Toronto cop convicted of G20 assault sentenced to 45 days in jail

Likely to eventually be fired Good stuff. Wish the RCMP employed the same standard, where it seems you can be convicted of assault twice and still be fit to wear the red serge, unlike that dope smoking freak

RCMP, CSIS, OPP, Peel Region, Toronto Police Services. Anywhere in which undercovers are employed without accountability, many many activities which have as horrible an affect on their targets, the repercussions much longer lasting are ocurring on a daily basis.

There has been one incident of an undercover agent facing consequences in Ontario in my memory, and that was because of the fact he forced himself on a civilian abusing his power. The RCMP worked undercover in Montebello, Quebec, lied to everyone that those involved were RCMP officers, then after they were caught denied that these men were doing anything wrong.

CSIS and the RCMP have actively spied on and stolen mail of union members, manufactured threats to justify targetting right-wing ideologists (some of which now form our government after being targetted many years ago, democratically elected I might add), regularly interferred with the free market on a whim. It has become a racket in which Canadians have little say, one in which I am sure our closest allies duly note in their opinion of the type of nation we are running but which we in Canada care little enough about to change. The G20 AND Vancouver olympic experience as examples that left a bad taste in many mouths of people overseas, many of them from the UK.

This guy is just one bad apple that made the news, I am glad he was outed and faced justice, but there are 1000's more doing worse with no press coverage, nor accountability or ability for them to ever be identified except in exceptional circumstances.

That's amazing. I was pretty convinced that those guys could do whatever they want to whomever they want, whenever and wherever they want. Maybe, police culture will turn a corner. I'm not betting the farm on that, though.

And let me be fair as after reading this I sound a bit harsh. There are plenty good undercover agents and of course covert counter-intelligence and those combatting terror. Men and women who are fighting terrorism and risking their asses overseas and against organized crime and evil entities are the salt of the earth and invaluable to Canada's way of life. I have my own biases because of my personal experiences, but this doesn't take away from the fact that I respect those who are truly keeping Canada and the public safe and those who want to do the "right thing" (in fact, I was informed about the activities against me by one such whistleblower).

It is about dealing with the bad apples, exposing them and weeding them out. ABove all, one word, accountability. If every single undercover operation was required to be recorded in some form every second of the interaction there would be better more reliable intelligence gathered, and better agents int he field. This cop is only in prison because of a video, if it had been his word against Mr. Nobody's he wouldn't have even seen the inside of a court.

Actually I definitely think the culture is going to turn a corner. It's going to be a simple situation of bad apples being sent to the sidelines.

Again though, the activities of men in uniform; outside of the most obvious extreme incidents involving a police shooting, does not compare to the damage and waste left by the covert apparatus. If one can operate in the shadows against citizens, not to protect against crime but to pad the budget, there are major problems. THIS willbe the most difficult aspect of policing to weed out, the only solution is major cuts which will force them to eliminate some of these snooping operations.

I think that selecting from a more intelligent and better educated recruitment pool will help, as well. Only Hollywood cops need to be "tuff gize". Some of these cops are precisely the same model of thug as their criminal opposites. It's as if they reached a fork in their lives: "Am I going to be a criminal or a cop?" Well, the vast majority of us have lives with far more complex forks-in-the-road than "Am I gonna beat up good gize or bad gize?"

Absolutely. Though I would suggest temperment and integrity are even more important. There are many soldiers in our military who may not be rocket scientists, but they are loyal to the nation and they have a strong belief in "doing the right thing". Good police are loyal to their true constituents, the citizens of their city and the law not their careers or their chief at the expense of democracy.

Take a look at the brave cop from Edmonton who saw abuse by the police and reported it, the fallout was HIM being isolated and punished. That is beyond disgusting.

I've been in the military and I encountered all sorts of people, there. A lot of trades are highly technical. Not everyone is an "airborne commando" type... lots of nerdy types who can fix a computer or a radar in the dark.

My apologies, I didn't mean it that way. I also applied to the military and have family who have served, I wouldn't consider them the book smart type, though they are logical and good as you suggested technically sound (my grandfather was even in the newspaper because of all of the years he had never taken his car to a body shop, he always did the work himself though he isn't a mechanic).

Anyways, what I mean is that I personally admire loyalty, common sense and character to most attributes. When a cop tells you his best weapon is his voice that's usually a good sign. If you see a guy pretending he is a UFC fighter and he walks around like he is one, than there is a problem.