The RCMP Beat (ing) Goes On - Mantler Trial - 18 Months suspended sentence (post #144)

[EmployeeoftheMonth]

Such a narrow minded response...

I myself have never had any sort of problem with law enforcement either.

The fact is people get into bad situations for many different reasons (aside from being a criminal).

If you watched that video and think the kick to the head was either helpful or courteous then I guess I am out of line.

[Wetcoaster]

Is it any more narrow minded than the folks that see these isolated incidents and start going off about the RCMP in general?

Edit: Holy Christ I didn't realize how old this thread was.

[lowest common denominator]

The fact is that this is NOT an isolated incident. RCMP have always abused their power. The "One bad apple" theory is a bunch of horseshhit. Not all of them, but a lot of them.

What has changed is technology. It is getting harder for the ol' boys to circle around one of their members when a crime is committed against the public because of cameras and video devices being held by just about everyone.

RCMP motto used to be "Serve and Protect" but in the last 20 years or so, it has become more like "Harass and Collect".

Police in the service of government and corporations, not in service of the public. It's called a police state and we inch ever closer.

This Mantle douche is an example of todays police officer. Aggressive, pack mentality, robotic, and in Mantler's case, prototypical small man syndrome. If you ever met him, you would know he is hung like a fruit bat.

[Wetcoaster]

This morning Judge Greg Koturbash sentenced Geoff Mantler to an 18 month suspended sentence with 18 months probation (as requested by Crown counsel), a "no contact" order re: Buddy Tavares and 50 hours of community service but no firearms prohibition as being sought by Crown Counsel.

Also if he is rehired by the RCMP he must undergo use of force re-training. I am unsure how effective this would be as this level of force seems to be how RCMP officers are trained in use of force in the first place.

So if you were a civilian (even with no criminal record) and delivered such a kick to the head of a defenceless person causing significant ongoing neurological injuries, how much time in the Crowbar Hotel would you face??

This seems backwards - if a police officer has absolutely no justification for use of force in the instant circumstances, should he not be held to a higher standard than the average civilian?

[King Heffy]

This morning Judge Greg Koturbash sentenced Geoff Mantler to an 18 month suspended sentence with 18 months probation (as requested by Crown counsel), a "no contact" order re: Buddy Tavares and 50 hours of community service but no firearms prohibition as being sought by Crown Counsel.

Also if he is rehired by the RCMP he must undergo use of force re-training. I am unsure how effective this would be as this level of force seems to be how RCMP officers are trained in use of force in the first place.

So if you were a civilian (even with no criminal record) and delivered such a kick to the head of a defenceless person causing significant ongoing neurological injuries, how much time in the Crowbar Hotel would you face??

This seems backwards - if a police officer has absolutely no justification for use of force in the instant circumstances, should he not be held to a higher standard than the average civilian?

[Wetcoaster]

And now according to a Mountie labour rep poor Geoff Mantler was abandoned and hung out to dry by RCMP management. After all poor Geoff was just doing his job when he kicked a defenceless suspect in the head, right?

Pretty hard to cover up when it is on video, eh?

Senior officers hung former Mountie Geoff Mantler out to dry and made no effort to investigate his side of the story, says a labour representative for the RCMP.

Staff Sgt. Tom Almasi is dismayed that senior Mounties outside Kelowna, B.C., criticized the disgraced officer after video of the notorious kick to Buddy Tavares’ head went viral.

“There has to be an expectation for police officers that when you go out and try and do your job and something goes wrong, the organization will back you,” Almasi said after Thursday’s sentencing.

“He was abandoned at every level.”

Geoff Mantler pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm for kicking Buddy Tavares during an arrest in the Okanagan city two years ago.

He was handed a suspended sentence and 18 months probation by a judge on Thursday.

As the RCMP’s elected labour rep, Almasi is responsible for 1,200 officers at 46 detachments. When a Mountie like Mantler gets into legal trouble while on duty, it’s Almasi’s job to pay a lawyer for him with the dues that officers provide.

He’s upset that no senior officer supported Mantler after the 2011 assault.

“It had a chilling effect on front-line police officers when they saw there was no organizational support when things go wrong,” Almasi said. “It causes apprehension because you don’t know if the force will back you up.”

RCMP managers outside Kelowna singled out Mantler as a villain and made prejudicial comments before his trial started, he said. They generated more complaints against Mantler — some of them baseless.

When someone made a bogus complaint that Mantler assaulted him and it was proven false, police failed to investigate the culprit for public mischief, Almasi said. Mantler reported the incident as a citizen to West Kelowna RCMP, but senior brass ignored it.

Almasi went to the top with this case — the RCMP commissioner in Ottawa. He complained to high-ranking managers at E Division headquarters in Surrey.

“He was a victim of a crime and the RCMP refused to investigate. He didn’t even get the most basic police service that an average Canadian would receive,” Almasi said.

Mantler’s lawyer Neville McDougall said senior RCMP in Kelowna have “thrown Geoff Mantler under the bus.” They refused to admit they made mistakes by not offering any supervision when junior officers drove to what they believed to be an active shooter — one of the most serious calls police can get.

“This occurred on a Friday at 10 a.m. The members would estimate there must have been at least 10 to 15 NCOs — the rank of corporal and higher (with) a minimum of eight years service. Not one responded,” McDougall said.

Mantler made mistakes but his performance report shows he was an excellent member and the hardest worker on the watch, he said.

“You throw that all away in five minutes and you turn on him. That’s what these men and women are working with now from a managerial perspective and I think it’s wrong. And I feel bad for them,” McDougall said.

Mantler knew he did wrong as soon as another officer told him the shooter may have been scaring geese, court heard. It was too late. He believed he may be dealing with a double homicide during a domestic dispute.

Now that he’s quit the RCMP, there’s little chance he’ll apply to work for another police department. He landed a good position out of province and has no plan to return to Kelowna.

RCMP managers made it clear to Mantler that if he kept his job after the trial and a disciplinary hearing, he may get stuck in Fort McMurray for the rest of his career, McDougall said.

“They didn’t care what happened here. They were going to try to get him out . . . He made one mistake and they completely discarded him.”

The Mantler arrest was a low-point for the Kelowna detachment, Almasi said. Officers were overworked and a report found the city was 38 positions short when it happened. Statistics Canada concluded Kelowna had the lowest proportion of officers per capita of any city in Canada in 2011.

Then-Supt. Bill McKinnon lobbied for the report on police staffing in Kelowna and convinced city council he needed more officers.

“When you are short-staffed, you’re under stress, you cut corners and you make mistakes,” Almasi said. “We’re getting those bodies slowly.”

Judge Greg Korturbash suggested RCMP outfit officers with portable video-microphones that clip to their chests. The equipment would protect police and people like Tavares.

Almasi said an officer safety group is looking into the technology.

He declined to comment on it but said labour representatives will read the judge’s comments and other suggestions “to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

http://www.theprovince.com/news/Kelowna+Mountie+kicked+face+abandoned+RCMP+every+level+labour/8333973/story.html#ixzz2SMNSES5u