For many months now, police force corruption has been in the headlines all over B.C., Canada and the world.
With the current technology of cellphones having the ability to take pictures and videos, many police officers are shown to misuse their powers as law enforcement officers by using excessive force when it’s not necessary and/or lying in court under oath. Some will get convicted and some will not.
Every career and industry that employs people will have its good employees and its bad apples, and each individual case will have a different outcome for different reasons.
What about the ones who are not caught on camera and get away with lying in court? How do their partners feel about the incident which they usually have or choose to support, whether by not talking about it or by collaborating their partner’s story? How effective will those police officers be to their detachment at future court cases and how long will the partner choose to keep quiet?
Judges are usually very intelligent people and, even if they are unable to side with the defence by acknowledging that they see through the story the police officers may be collaborating, they, of all people, usually see through the lying, even if the defence can’t prove that there were wrongdoings. If the next case hinges on the police officer’s testimony only, how receptive will the judge be to believe that police officer and his/her partner?
I believe that we all know the difference between right and wrong, whether or not we live it is another story. Whether or not we get caught lying or misusing our powers, in our hearts we know the difference and have to live with our decisions.
Police personnel around the world are no different. They make choices just like rest of us and live with the consequences the best they can.
K. Isherwood
