Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack
Meanwhile two indigenous people have been killed by police in two weeks in little old New Brunswick.
Both cases are under investigation.
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Indeed. I was going to post about this, but other things got in the way.
Both of these incidents are very unfortunate, especially given the current socio-political climate on the continent, and I think every single friggin' police officer in the country should be thinking things over
three times before unholstering their firearm at the present time.
The incident with the aboriginal woman in Edmundston is particularly worrisome. The story is that she had recently moved to Edmundston from BC to be closer to her family, and told her boyfriend in Toronto (by telephone) that she was worried that somebody was stalking her. Her boyfriend then called the Edmundston city police to conduct a wellness check on her, and when the constable arrived, she opened the door with a knife in her hand, he felt threatened, and then shot her
five times!! 
1) - if the woman felt harassed, it is understandable that she might be carrying a knife when she opened the door.
2) - the policeman obviously grossly overreacted.
3) - why should it be the police conducting a "wellness check." Maybe they should just have called her rather than showing up at her door unannounced. Maybe it should have been a social worker doing the check, and not the police.
I get the fact that police might feel under siege, especially since six Maritime officers have lost their lives in incidents (Moncton, Fredericton, Portapique) over the last five years, but I really hate their current practice of "shooting to kill" if they feel threatened. This is uncalled for and retraining needs to be carried out. We can't abandon the idea of "community policing". I can think of several other incidents over the last several years (including two in Moncton) where suicidal, disturbed and or homeless people have been shot and killed by police in the line of duty. It isn't right when the rate of death-by-cop outstrips the actual homicide rate in a community. Something is obviously wrong when that happens.
The second recent incident involving an aboriginal man near the Miramichi might be somewhat more understandable. Again, a knife was involved, and the man was apparently agitated (mental health issues of recent onset), and at least an attempt was made to use non lethal force prior to discharging the firearm.
Understandable however is not necessarily the same thing as justifiable. While the constable may have shot this man in self defence, the question needs to be asked if the responding officers were well enough equipped to deal with a distraught and unpredictable individual. Again, better training on how to deal with such a situation on the part of the police should be considered, and perhaps more appropriate individuals (social workers) should have been involved.
The police have a very tough job to perform, and we should respect their efforts in maintaining a civil society, but the police should not be the first line responder to situations where criminality is not the first intent. For the mentally ill, the vulnerable, the panhandlers, vagrants and the homeless, there should be a rapid response social work team instead, who could work with police back-up in potentially threatening or hostile situations. This would be far more appropriate, and would save lives.
I should note that the aboriginal leadership in NB have reacted with commendable restraint to both these situations, asking their communities not to demonstrate or raise blockades, but instead to hold healing marches and peaceful protests. Kudos to them,
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