http://www.policebrutality.info/2013/04/canadian-cop-punches-a-cyclist-in-the-face.html
Video length: 2minutes 42seconds
The article tells us about a police conduct issue where a police officer punches a cyclist while arresting him, and the article goes like this:
Vancouver police department is investigating the story behind a video of one of their officers hitting a man in the face during the arrest. Andishae Akhavan was riding his bicycle without a helmet through downtown Yaletown when he got stopped by two plainclothes police officers. One of the bystanders started filming the arrest as the cops were trying to handcuff Akhavan. He asked “What is this for?” but didn’t get an answer, not knowing why he was getting arrested. As Akhavan moved his hand in a non threatening way without raising his voice or resisting, he got punched in the face. An officer with a British accent told him that he was punched for resisting arrest.
Vancouver’s police union president Tom Stamatakis stated that Akhavan drove his bike in a way that “put a lot of people in some risk, whether it’s accident or injury” and “allegedly confrontational with police”. Further investigation is to show whether the use of force was necessary.
My belief on this issue is that no matter how you are riding your bike, a police officer shouldn't be able to arrest a citizen unless there was a legal reason based on the law. Also, He shouldn't be arrested without getting to know the reason why he is being arrested. The police neglected the citizen's Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms section 8: freedom from unreasonable search and seizure. Then, he punched the cyclist in the face while putting a hand cuff on himm which violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms section 7: right to life, liberty, and security of the person. Therefore, as the police doesn't have any legal reason to arrest this cyclist, this is a misconduct of the police power as he used his power as a police to arrest the cyclist just because he can.
This issue ended up by the constable being charged with assault.
I found this article very intriguing. I liked how you linked the events of the video to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, proving your ability to give valid legal backgrounds. Although you did a good job, I was able to identify a few flaws in your post. First of all, the information in your last statement, the one that claims that the constable was eventually charged with assault, is not present in your cited article. It also seems that the video, as well as the article, only present an extremely small portion of the incident. The clip could have easily been trimmed to appeal to the public to make them sympathize the man, and demolish the police's reputation. Adding on to the issue, I noticed a heavy English accent the assaulting police officer spoke with, implying the possibility that his cultural standards are more suited for his home country, and might not be entirely familiar with the Canadian culture or the police conduct of Canada, which may have started and escalated this situation. Continue the great work, and thanks for the valuable contribution to our group!
ReplyDeleteI really like your point about cultural standards. This article was posted on April of this year, meaning that the England riot was two years ago. The reason I brought up the English riot was because there might be a connection between the heavy accented police and the riot. Assuming that the police have a British background, the England riot may still be fresh in his mind, meaning that he may be influenced by the British police on how to deal with civil disobedience. The fact that a civilian was shot dead during the riot can draw parallel to the officer punching the cyclist in the face, both deeds were excessive and not required. Perhaps, it is the society belief within the British culture that it is proper for police to go to that extent to stop a crime. I cannot be certain that this is the case, but it is just interesting to ponder the cultural standards aspect, rather than tunneling on individual police officers.
DeleteThanks! Yes, the last sentence was an additional research that I did to find about the result of this issue, and I should've put a bibliography for that one. Next time, I will make sure to show all the links to show where I got my information. Lawvengers forever.
DeleteJoey you bring up a good point that must always be considered in regards to obtaining information. What is the source of the information and how reliable is it? I would also like to see you incorporating your opinion of the issues in your comments. Thanks.
DeleteInteresting post Josh! The video provided offered a better understanding for the article you are talking about. I agree that that the two police officers (most likely undercover) over reacted for this incident, as punching the cyclist in the face is a clear excessive use of force. Additionally, the two police officers gave no explanation as to why the individual was arrested, and gave an ambiguous answer that the cyclist "was punched for resisting arrest." Although the video showed the officer arresting and punching a man without any proper reason, I believe it is important to ponder how things got escalated. Perhaps the cyclist glared at cops or made gestures towards them, we do not know anything prior to the video, thus the reason for the excessive violence can still be debatable. After viewing 15 seconds of the video over and over, the idea of the cyclist was resisting arrest gradually grew upon me. I would like to guide your attention to 0:06 of the video, where the cyclist violently pulled away his arm. Even though he mentioned later on that his arm could not go back that far, maybe he should have informed the police officers this medical concern during the arrest. I must make it clear that I am not supporting the actions of the police officers, however, I am bringing up the aspects we must concern before the video started. All in all, basing on the evidence provided from the video, it is simply incorrect for the two police officers to punch a cyclist and arresting him without a valid reasoning. Once again, good work Josh and thank you for the post.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I was watching the video over and over, too, and it didn't seem like he pulled it out violently. To me it seems like he was trying to make his arm back to normal carefully without trying to make the police officers angry, but the result tells me that he failed, and got punched in the face by the angry police officer.
DeleteI agree on that he should've mentioned his movement to the police officers, but he didn't deserve to be hit just for that. And Thank you again for your comment! Lawvengers forever.
Andrew, it is good that your are considering other aspects of the situation, such as we do not necessarily have all of the details prior to the video. Thank for bring that up.
DeleteHi Josh!
ReplyDeleteI would like to congratulate you on a intriguing post -- it was very concise and easy to understand! I was thoroughly impressed by the fact that you were able to support your stance that there was serious police misconduct by linking it to specific sections on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. However, I would like to also point out one problem have with the video. The video was supposedly filmed by a friend of the victim, so there could be bias involved. As Joey mentioned above, the video could have been easily edited to garner the public's sympathy for the bike rider. If possible, it would be great if a longer video of the incident surfaced in the future! However, I did find it alarming that the police officer resorted to violence to resolve the issue. It seemed to me that he allowed his personal emotions to affect his actions, and was unable to keep calm and collected. As a policeman, it is vital for him to behave accordingly. By using his fists, the police officer is posing as a faulty model for the bystanders and tarnishing the reputation of the entire police force. Anyways, thank you Josh for bringing this issue to my attention. Great post!
Thanks! I agree with you and Joey that the video might be biased. Lawvengers forever.
ReplyDeleteJosh, good job linking the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to your article. There is a fine for not wearing your helmet while riding your bike and it would have been interesting to see a longer video as Estella mentioned. We do not really know what transpired from the time the office would have given the ticket and the start of the video.
ReplyDelete