A young woman ran from police in Ottawa today, they chased her, she fought like hell and they knocked her out. She lost consciousness as the boys in blue tried to stuff her in a van.
Bystanders were watching so they laid her out on the sidewalk and called an ambulance. A female police officer showed an act of kindness and put a piece of cardboard under her.
That’s where the blogger who writes a knitting blog found herself face to face with a police officer demanding, intimidating. Her story is online and she is understandably afraid.
Bloggers can help by posting her story so media pay attention and complaints by witnesses and witness statements can be filed.
“And the big cop, he slammed her face-down into the sidewalk just like she was a huge man,†said one of the men.
Then, he said, they cuffed her and went to put her in the van. She was part-way in when suddenly she just collapsed. Unconscious. She was bleeding from the head. That’s roughly when I came along.
A woman said when she walked by, the young woman was unconscious, her face was grey, she was bleeding from her head, and her abdomen was rising and falling very rapidly, as if she were gasping for air. She thought maybe the police had tasered her.
The fate of the injured woman is unknown. knitnut has the rest of the story and how an officer tried to intimidate her and at least one other person.
via: unrepentant old hippie
Also picked up by Stageleft.
If you live in Ottawa, phone the police.
Those of us outside Ottawa can email.
a) Ask who you can most effectively direct your concerns about bystander treatment and intimidation in a brutal and over the top arrest to.
Give the date, time of incident and where you read/heard about it from.
b) Ask what a citizens witness rights are (even if you know).
c) And by all means, ask how the young woman who was bleeding unconscious lying on a frozen sidewalk wet sidewalk in temps about -1C (unknown. see comments – BD) is now doing.
There is nothing up on the Ottawa City Police media room report page as yet.
I checked Ottawa media – nothing as yet.
You can email your concerns to the compliment or complaint section of the force here.
I have filed this post with the Ottawa City Police, and requested their officers behavior be investigated.
Picked up by: Jim Bobby Sez, Peace Order and Good Government eh?, Dr. Dawg, Miss Vicky, excited delirium, Creekside, Tales from a Grouch, More Notes from the Underground, apply liberally
Update: Staff Sergeant Denis Cleroux of The City of Ottawa Police department has responded to my query in the comment section. I have posted my response here.
Bene,
I’ll be calling. But one correction – at the time of the incident yesterday, it was about 9 C, not -1.
Still, it was pretty brutal and the bullying was horrendous. My neighbor is an Ottawa cop, I’ll ask him about it and see if complaints to the rank-and-file have an effect.
Thanks for those very useful links, Bene D. I’ve posted and emailed the Police Service complaints department, and I’ve advised others to do the same.
Bene:
Well done. I’ve posted the link to the OPS at my place.
Mike’s right, it was above zero yesterday morning… the high for the day was 9, but since Zoom said she saw this happen in the morning it might’ve only been about 4 or 5.
Either way, it doesn’t change that she got body-slammed into a concrete sidewalk.
Thanks for the temperature – I corrected it. When I looked up Ottawa for the post, several hourly temperatures were blank and I wasn’t aware temps had gone above 0C or -1C noted in afternoon.
Appreciate the input.
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No prob! We had some wacky weather here the last couple of days, so I don’t blame anyone for not being able to keep it straight.
We tied for third place in the Canadian Blog Awards! Congratulations Benediction. You are doing something important here.
I work as the officer in charge of the Professional Standards Section at the Ottawa Police Service and am currently reviewing this matter at the request of Chief Vern White.
The Service recognizes that there are specific concerns raised here about the conduct of Ottawa Police officers. For everyone’s information, the police service takes any allegation of this type very seriously and encourages anyone with such a concern to visit our site at:
http://www.ottawapolice.ca/en/serving_ottawa/compliment_complaint/complaint.cfm
or to contact our Professional Standards Section at (613) 236-1222 ext 5830 to speak with an investigator, or to obtain more information on the process.
In order to comply with due process in matters such as this one, we do not comment on specific cases until any investigation is concluded and a decision is reached about the possible laying of any charges under the Ontario Police Services Act.
If you have any further questions or comments, please direct them to info@ottawapolice.ca . Your concern will then be forwarded to me or to the appropriate person responsible within the police service.
Should you have been a witness to this incident, please contact the Professional Standards Section as your assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Denis Cléroux
Professional Standards Section
Staff Sergeant
Central Division centrale
Ottawa Police
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Does anyone know why they were chasing her in the first place? Why did she run? I’ve had one or two police officers approach me in my lifetime, but I’ve never felt the need to run from them. It’s got me wondering what information we don’t have yet.
Laura: All I’ve seen is a comment received by a third party that she is okay.
Quote: “I’ve heard that she is okay. I’m not at liberty to say more than that, or to say where I heard it from. I don’t know why they went after her.”
I’ve worked with police all my life, and there are a few I’d run from even if I am as pure as the driven snow, in my right mind and completely innocent.:^)
We don’t know why she ran, why she was arrested or what has happened to her since.
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