Toronto cop James Forcillo has rightly been convicted in the shooting of young Sammy Yatim. Disconcerting is the outrageous claim made by his defense lawyers that a cop should be given leniency. For being a cop.
The judge wisely countered that, if anything, police need to be held to a higher standard of both having the personality and training to better handle a potentially confrontational situation.
De-escalation techniques should be a first resort, instead of going in Wild West style with guns blazing. As evidenced by the Youtube footage that tragic summer night in 2013, police training deficiencies need to be addressed and corrected.
The ever-bombastic police union boss Mike McCormack, whose unwavering first allegiance is to “serve and protect” his own cops rather than our best interests, defended, and even worse, exonerated Forcillo of any wrongdoing. Chilling. We are not served having him as head of the powerful police union.
Finally, the trial and sentencing could only address Forcillo's actions. That these other systemic travesties remain at large may well succeed in derailing justice.
Bottom line? Let's see if Forcillo ever sets foot inside jail. (more...)
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