GOOD COP/BAD COP

A Vancouver judge reserved his sentencing decision this week for six
Vancouver police department officers who have pleaded guilty to
assaulting three men in Stanley Park.

Vancouver Police Chief Jamie Graham also won't make the larger
decision - about whether the officers should keep their jobs - until
the New Year.

The court has heard the police officers picked up three suspected drug
dealers on Granville Street Jan. 14 and drove them to Stanley Park.
There, five of the six officers berated and assaulted the three men.
Officers' lawyers have described those actions as momentarily
"stepping over the line."

They also say their clients should be forgiven and allowed to continue
in their jobs.

We don't agree.

While we do have sympathy for police who deal with an endless round of
repeat criminals, police officers cannot be allowed to appoint
themselves judge and jury.

Police wield huge power and authority over their fellow citizens. With
that goes a responsibility to be above reproach.

To engage in deliberate thuggery in the course of carrying out their
duties was a shocking breach of public trust. The actions of these
officers cast a pall over the entire Vancouver police department.

The good cops in the department must now take actions of their own to
show the public the behaviour of these bad cops won't be tacitly
condoned or swept under the rug.