G20-related police complaints on the riseSubmissions doubled last week, according to provincial review
Staff Reporter Complaints filed against police for their actions during the G20 summit are mounting — but the number is still not as high as expected after a weekend in which more than 1,000 people were arrested.
Between June 27 and July 3, the provincial Office of the Independent Police Review Director received 164 complaints, compared with an average 80 per week, said spokeswoman Rosemary Parker.
The arm’s-length agency created last year to deal with complaints against police doesn’t have “enough resources” to determine what portion of those are related to the G20, Parker said.
However, some people who may be intimidated by the process of lodging a complaint with the provincial office are turning to the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. It has received more than 75 complaints from people caught up in mass arrests.
During the arrests and detentions, some were beaten and injured, some treated badly and humiliated, said Nathalie Des Rosiers, general counsel for the group.
“We are finding that people may be intimidated by the process, by the amount of information they need to provide to make a complaint, and some are worried that if they file a complaint the police will get mad at them,” said Des Rosiers. The group helps individuals file a complaint or get legal advice, she said.
Most complaints lodged with CCLA came after a meeting last Tuesday at Christie Pits Park, where people were urged to take action through legal avenues.
Natalie Logan, 21, was among those attending. She said she was arrested while taking photos at The Esplanade on Saturday evening and detained for 14 hours.
Logan plans to send her complaint to both the complaints office and the civil liberties group. She delayed doing so, she said, because she wanted to ensure her account was as neutral and accurate as possible. “I want to keep this issue upfront and not let it fizzle away with time.”
Des Rosiers believes official complaints are coming in slowly because many hope there will be a public inquiry.
“A public inquiry would have allowed them to be heard without having to individually shoulder the burden of making a complaint,” she said. “Now that there is some uncertainty around if it is ever going to come, people are starting to take the individual route.”
In the mean time, she urges people to speak out: “It’s important for people to stand up and denounce police misconduct, and filing a complaint is the best way to do so. It’s a service to your community to do so.”
