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Policing is not rocket science
Sammy Yatim was alone on a streetcar with a knife (NOW, August 1-7), with no one around who might conceivably have been in danger.
What do you do? You lock up the streetcar and leave him alone till he calms down. Not rocket science, but obviously beyond the capacity of Toronto police.
Elizabeth Block
Toronto
Why train cops to shoot to kill?
The persistent killing of people with mental health issues and the cowardly refusal on the part of the government and the justice system to stop the horror show that the police have been given carte blanche.
These killings are not random but the direct result of training and protocol that gives cops the right to shoot to kill.
The police and their unions demand the right to train and set protocol as they see fit, brooking no interference from the government or the judicial system, let alone the public. This has to change.
Bogos Kalemkiar
Toronto
Moral of Sammy Yatim tragedy
The reason an 18-year-old kid in a streetcar got shot is simple: he had the temerity to call one or more of the otherwise unassailable cops on the scene a “fuckin’ pussy.”
Moral of the story: don’t call a cop(s) “pussies”! Human life means nothing to some.
Wil Gouzelis
Toronto
A case of cop rage?
Anyone who thinks that police are inherently evil and enemies of the people is either a hypocrite, a criminal or deeply deluded.
But those who’ve seen the video of the killing of Sammy Yatim are correct to draw the conclusion that the use of lethal force against him was totally unjustified.
No matter what the Special Investigations Unit or any public inquiry finds about this tragedy, it is abundantly clear to any intelligent person that the officer who used his pistol engaged in a wholly unwarranted action.
The question everyone wants answered is why did this happen the way that it did? The answer is that police have not learned that they are a symbol of authority and that when they’re being defied, it’s because of that symbolism.
When everything is taken personally, a number of serious police behaviour problems arise. Their anger increases and becomes chronic. The slightest disrespect toward them can trigger rage.
An officer afflicted with such habits of negativity is unfit for duty.
Ron Cook
Toronto
Separating good cops from bad
After every unnecessary death caused by a police officer, the public hears the usual soothing “Let’s look into this and make sure it doesn’t happen again.” But investigations never prevent other deaths.
The First World War was heralded as the war to end all wars, until the Second World War made mincemeat of that prediction. Probing the death of Sammy Yatim will prove ineffectual at stopping future deaths.
What will work?
Though most police officers will never pull a trigger because common sense allows them to find another way to deal with emergencies, there will always be the odd officer who isn’t able to do that.
The trick is identifying them ahead of time. Is that possible?
Geoff Rytell
Toronto
Canada’s disturbing march to militarism
Matthew Behrens raised an important issue in Canada’s Got A Disease And It’s Called Militarism (NOW, August 1-7).
Most of us (including me) just don’t know the extent of our country’s military activities or contributions to global military violence, which is disturbing.
Besides selling uranium, Canada also supplies military vehicles and is a base for arms dealers. In 2007, it was apparent to the authors of The Unexpected War: Canada In Kandahar (Janice Stein and Eugene Lang) that Canada had become embroiled in a war in a failed state and continued its involvement much longer than Chretien originally intended.
The authors also noted Canadian military leaders’ close ties to the Pentagon and the influence of American attitudes on our military.
We probably won’t have a say in being dragged into a possible war with Iran in the future while Harper is in power.
Elizabeth Piccolo
Toronto
War on medpot uninformed
Regarding Dr. Robert Kamermans’s Medpot Crusade (NOW, August 1-7). Excellent article by Barbara Shaw. The quote from police – “If you deal drugs you have to expect to deal with the police” – screams out. It’s just one example of what is wrong with our legal system.
Helen MacAndrew
From nowtoronto.com
Going nuclear on the environment
Like letter writers Tamara Brownstone and Angela Bischoff (NOW, July 25-31), I believe the environment should be protected.
But unlike them, I believe nuclear power is what we should be using. I’d rather have new nuclear reactors be built with current American, French or Canadian technology that’s likely quite safe and not have a meltdown (unlike all of the bogeyman predictions).
Where do you think the power for the electric trains that environmentalists want GO Transit to buy and run will come from? Solar? Sorry, we don’t have a space shuttle fleet to build space-based solar power collectors.
In a perfect world, I’d say that we should be able to run everything on virtually clean-emitting zero-point energy or arc reactor power like the kind that runs Tony Stark’s Iron Man suits.
But since we don’t have that, I’d rather place my trust in clean (compared to the carbon sources we’re using now) nuclear power – the same power that Al Gore and the founder of Greenpeace now believe in.
Neville Ross
Toronto
Residential school history needs to be taught
The residential school system affected generations of First Nations children (NOW, July 25-31). But aboriginal Canadian history is not being taught in Toronto schools, even though Indian residential schools are a part of our shared history.
Canada’s legislated governmental policy proposed to assimilate indigenous people. Canadian government policies and legislation also outlawed our identity, our language(s) and our culture. The rationale behind residential schools was to “kill the Indian in the child.”
Generations of children were traumatized by the experience. Many native people who have been institutionalized are unable to function in their community or society due to the cultural impacts of the residential school legacy.
Michael Cheena
Toronto
Booze proof
Why would you not include the alcohol percentages in your Drink Up reviews?
Seems like essential information that is being left out. I’m sure many people buy based on this figure.
Allan Howe
Etobicoke
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