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Police video busts newspaper editor after he rants in print about being stopped
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Daily Brew
Video is omnipresent in our society, with closed-circuit security cameras often used by the police to help solve crime while citizens use to phone cameras to record potential police misbehaviour.
As a journalist, Keith Lacey also should have known that police cars today are equipped with video cameras, or else the editor of the weekly Osoyoos, B.C., Times might have had second thoughts about his editorial rant last week about being pulled over and subjected to a breathalyzer test.
In an editorial headlined Self-righteous Cops Who treat Innocent Taxpayers Like Criminals, Lacey claimed he was mistreated by an RCMP corporal, whom he cited by name in the article, after he and his girlfriend finished dinner with friends at a local pub and then picked up some wine at a nearby liquor store.
The Mountie, said Lacey, pulled him over ostensibly for having a dirty licence plate, then demanded he blow into the machine and ignored his protestations of innocence. After he was cleared, Lacey unloaded on the officer and demanded his name and badge number.
"I'm 50 years old, was polite and co-operative, showed no signs at all of any impairment, yet this experienced officer couldn't help himself and had to humiliate and embarrass me just because he can," Lacey railed. "It's disgusting.
"When I later informed him I was the editor of the local newspaper and was going to write about our little episode, he finally shut up and showed me some respect."
Lacey went on to claim other residents of the Osoyoos, about 230 kilometres east of Vancouver near the U.S. border, told him the local Mounties, including this officer, often fish for impaired drivers outside the pub.
Faced with allegations of abuse of power, police normally invite the aggrieved party to file a complaint, promise an investigation and then avoid further comment.
Which made the open letter to Lacey by RCMP Supt. Ray Benoties posted on the Mounties web site all the more surprising.
"As the editor of a local newspaper, your readers must feel it important to know that when you report something in your paper, it is factual," the senior officer wrote in a tone that dripped sarcasm. "I imagine your credibility and that of the Osoyoos Times relies heavily on that.
"Well sir, I'm very pleased to report that there is a video of this incident ... taken from the police car and includes audio of the entire interaction between you and the police officer."
Benoties said his review of the stop showed the officer was "very calm and professional."
He didn't comment on Lacey's behaviour but suggested "we post this video on-line so the good people of Osoyoos and others can make their own determination of what occurred." Or, Benoties said, he could show the video to Osoyoos residents and perhaps use the episode to talk about the problem of impaired driving, which the community has raised as a serious concern.
"The residents of Osoyoos will also learn that this particular police officer carries a photo in his duty bag of a young girl who was killed by an impaired driver," Benoties said.
The letter prompted a contrite Lacey, who took the Times job only last November to post an apology on the Times' web site Sunday.
"I fully realize the experienced officer was only doing his job the night in question and my over reaction to what happened between he and I was inappropriate, regardless of what transpired during those 20 minutes," wrote Lacey, who faces an online petition calling for him to be fired.
"It was also inappropriate to insist the encounter was embarrassing and humiliating as the officer was respectful at all times in conducting his duties."
It's not the first time police have fallen back on video to defend the actions of officers.
Vancouver police are facing a lawsuit filed last month by a man who claims he was badly mauled by a police dog in an unwarranted takedown. Christopher Evans admitted he slamming his skateboard against a transit bus in frustration because several buses did not stop for him, but caused no damage. He said he was leaving peacefully when the dog attacked without warning, opening a large gash on his leg.
But the police released a video taken from inside the bus showing someone bashing and apparently cracking its glass door.
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