Book Review: Excessive Force

Authors: Alok Mukherjee, Tim Harper

This is an amazing analysis of Toronto Police Services (TPS). In the light of police violence, carding, racial profiling, and the evidence that people of colour are pulled over far more frequently than those who appear white, this book is a must-read for anyone who cares about North American society.

What the author points out, is that police are more worried about police safety than community safety. This is why they are armed to the teeth. The G20 fiasco is a prime example.

Alok Mukherjee was the chair of the Toronto Police Services Board. He details his attempts to bring policing in Toronto into the new millennium. There is so much to manage on the streets these days: road rage, road racing, mental health issues, as well as criminals, loon wolves, and angry white men.

Mukherjee's premise is that things must change. Police must work harder at education, having a police presence, and to reduce the military-type equipment common on the force to prevent issues in the community. With cell phone videos, body cams for cops, and other community engagement, police must be held accountable.

Mukherjee points out how he tried to change the excessive costs of policing, by stopping those who earned overtime by working festivals, and other for-hire opportunities, not policing per se. He wanted to stop carding, and that took years of effort, as he was blocked by Toronto Police Service (TPS)chiefs.


Mukherjee details:

• inherent racism of policing on both sides of our borders,
• during the G20 in Toronto, what was agreed to by TPS went for nought as the RCMP came in and took over. 
• the horrid G20 kettling event that occurred, with victims locked up for hours,
• the terribly negative way police officers treat one another when they face internal issues, such as PTSD,
• special investigations of police actions, and the lack of convictions, i.e. *Sammy Yatim. (SIU)

G8 fencing in Huntsville

This is an excellent read. He has amazing perspective and an understanding of policing around the world. He details that research, as well as looking at the history of TPS. I just hope it will make a difference.

There is no shortage of “inside” police books written by former cops. Here is a rare title—not only in Canada but the Western world—written from the community’s perspective.

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@Barrie Summy

The news is full of vicious raids, and Black live do matter.

New: A Florida sheriff's Facebook video of a "fentanyl/heroin" bust went viral. He brought armored cars + a masked SWAT team for a raid in broad daylight.

Turns out, he nabbed some young people, mostly for marijuana possession. No opioids were present.https://t.co/AS8TSMwAAZ pic.twitter.com/pFcexwBvKp

— George Joseph (@georgejoseph94) May 30, 2018

Women on the Force

I think things are looking up. There were women involved in presenting at the press conference.

Bonnie Crombie, Mississauga mayor and the Peel Police Chief: Jennifer Evans. This MUST make a difference in the Blue Wall people speak of.

TPS was formed in 1834, surely we can move into the new millennium.

Gun Violence & Mass Shootings

*Sammy Yatim
Yatim, an 18-year-old Toronto male armed with a pocketknife, was shot at nine times, and was hit by eight of the shots fired by 30-year-old Toronto Police Service (TPS) officer James Forcillo. He later died from the injuries.^[3] The incident occurred after Yatim, brandishing a 12 cm (4.7 in) switchblade knife in a Toronto streetcar,^[4] advanced on a passenger,^[5] threatened other passengers, and exposed himself.^[6] The confrontation between Yatim and the police was recorded and footage of it was released publicly, prompting strong reactions across Canada.^[7]

OPP rapid fire weapons practice

Did I mention the OPP have a firing range out across our wetland and bog? The tree frog starts croaking, the cats get scared, I find it worrisome.

No one told us about the target range when we anticipated buying the house and property. You'd think one would disclose that. The previous owners have gone back to the UK, where they are from.

 Four days in a row this week. 

White square is their property
-we are the house near the '#1' on the left
-between us is a lot of wetland.

We live near the OPP practice park. Lots of fun on a Saturday, but mostly it is weekdays!  It must prepare the deer and wild turkeys for hunting season.

They sent us a letter in the spring preparing us, informing those of us on our street of the practice dates.

Unfortunately, they also rent it out to other groups, SWAT maybe? Those days are a horrible surprise. We mark it on our calendars. I keep telling myself they are professionals and it is a closed range.

Don't get me wrong, they have to practice somewhere. But we love the peace and quiet.
Thing is country life is anything BUT quiet. The highway traffic is incredible, with big trucks barreling along, the motorcycles who feel they must rev it up, speeding up, trucks passing motorists, some determined to hurry out to cottages to ENJOY THE DANG SUMMER!

I tell myself that I can relax and enjoy the fact that I don't have to rush anywhere. It helps.

It's not as bad at the front of the house in the video, but out back, we just hope there are enough trees across the 500m and wetland...

You can hear it some in Batman's video at 1:06.

catch & release program

We have seen the hunters go by in their boats again. I do not know any hunters personally, but have had many female friends who lauded the November breaks they had as husbands took off with their buddies for hunting camps, or led others in their pursuit of game to fill their freezers.

Our cat, a well-fed sleek little guy, loves to troll the woods for game. Ollie, and his sister, Sady,were bringing home various mice, moles, chipmunks and, lately squirrels. Those little tree-rats of the forest. I was explaining to my husband that Native communities knew about hunting. They would move into an area, live there for 50 years, exhaust the game and move on, leaving the area to regenerate and regrow. It is the cycle of life.

My Ollie goes farther and farther to find his prey. I'd like to convince him to participate in the catch and release program, but he insists on playing with his prey, throwing it up in the air and tenderizing the wee things. But I continue to see new ones moving in. There is a squirrel nest in a near-by tree and the critters have been cruising the bird feeders. The raccoons continue to be patrolling. Their nocturnal antics make us all laugh. The cats do not so much hunt them as have an understanding.

Hunters have been helping the fallow-deer reserve to recapture their missing deer. George and Gulliver returned home, but Ty succumbed to capture myopathy. Such a shame. People have been asked not to interfere. Animal in the wild need to be left alone. In this situation, the reserve should have been notified.