Mounties praised for showing restraint while dealing with verbal abuse caught on camera
Posted November 5, 2018 8:03 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Editor’s note: this article contains a link to a video with graphic language that is not suitable for everyone. Discretion is advised.
BURNABY (NEWS 1130) – A video of some young men hurling verbal abuse at officers with the Burnaby RCMP on Halloween night has gone viral, and it looks like the RCMP is getting a lot of support for how its officers handled the situation.
Superintendent Chuck McDonald, who is also the operations officer for the Burnaby detachment, says officers were called out to Imperial Street near Macpherson Avenue just after midnight on Nov. 1.
“Two Burnaby RCMP members on patrol heard fireworks being set off,” he tells NEWS 1130. “The members located a group of 10 males who were setting off fireworks as our members arrived.”
He says one of the men claimed to have a permit for the fireworks, but failed to produce it when officers asked for it, and began “becoming verbally abusive.”
Due to the number of people these officers were dealing with, McDonald says they called for back up. When additional officers arrived, they too were met by aggressive language, as is seen in the video shot by what appears to be one of the men who was among the group of 10.
“It’s unfortunate these individuals felt they could engage with police officers in this manner, and I’m proud of each and every one of our responding Burnaby members. They were calm and professional in ensuring the issue was resolved safely and did not escalate.”
Video Source: Gurpreet Singh Sahota Facebook
The footage has been shared hundreds of times and has tens of thousands of views, with many leaving comments in support of the officers.
One person writes: “Great job to the men in blue. You do not deserve to be spoken to like that. It’s unfortunate that the people behind the camera have zero class.”
McDonald says in addition to support online, members of the public have also been calling the detachment to sing the officer’s praises.
“It’s very heartening to see the response we’ve gotten from the public,” he adds. “The RCMP members in this video resolved this incident and did what they always do every other shift, and that’s respond to the next call for service in an equally calm and professional manner.”
This isn’t the first case in which someone has uploaded video of their interaction with police officers. McDonald says officers always assume that everything is going to be recorded.
“As long as they’re doing their jobs in a professional manner, if anything, it’s evidence that we can use later.”
– With files from Denise Wong
