It wasn’t just Buddy Tavares who was left injured as a result of a vicious-looking kick to the face by a Kelowna RCMP officer earlier this month.
The force, stung by a series of questionable actions by its officers in recent years, has once again received a black eye from one of its own.
The kick, delivered by Const. Geoff Mantler, a three-year veteran of the force and captured on video by a local reporter, resulted in the swift announcement of both criminal and internal investigations by his commanding officer. The criminal investigation is being conducted by Abbotsford Police Department, which has already recommended a charge of assault causing bodily harm.
The fact Mantler kicked Tavares is not in question. That is plain to see in the video. The question is why. Did Mantler just lose it? Did he feel threatened? Did he feel Tavares was not responding? Was something lacking in his training?
No matter what the answer is, the kick was, in the words of his boss, Supt. Bill McKinnon “shocking” and “disappointing.”
It was more than that. It was unacceptable behaviour from someone charged with enforcing the law.
Police officers need to keep their emotions in check on the job. They are held to a higher standard because of the position they hold in society. We give them special powers to enforce the law, we equip them with loaded guns to use if needed and we trust they will act with integrity.
And the majority of police do just that. They chose to take on a tough job and, in most cases, they do it well. But there are exceptions.
In Canada, we pride ourselves on the fact that this is not a police state. We have rules and they are followed, both by the police and the public.
But when we lose confidence in that, we lose a lot.
—Kelowna Capital News