The camera loves RCMP officers

This past Canada Day a group of 20 or so young party-goers were waiting at a University of British Columbia bus stop when a police car approached the group of youths, some of whom were holding open alcohol containers. The seemingly standard interaction soon became headline-worthy as the cops posed for photos with several young women in suggestive photos recently sent to the school’s newspaper, The Ubyssey.

The girls smiled coyly for the camera, wearing handcuffs in some photos and sitting in the back of the squad car in others; some of the pictures also showed them posing with the officers who appeared to be happily obliging. During the incident a young man in the group voiced his concern about the officers’ professionalism at which point they told him to dump out his drink, then continued the picture taking.

It’s hard to determine what exactly gave the RCMP officers the impression their behaviour was appropriate and conducive to them performing their job. The repercussions for such careless actions affect not only themselves but also the reputation of the RCMP and police forces across Canada.

Police officers are expected to enforce the law and ensure such blatant abuses of power are either prevented or dealt with accordingly. It’s disconcerting to know the officials to whom you would turn in, say, a case of sexual assault are using—and abusing—their authority to propagate sexual innuendo with people your own age that, given this power relationship, is downright creepy.

It’s difficult to achieve a proper balance in civilian-police interactions: while ideally cops should be friendly and approachable, the other end of the spectrum creates a problem of indecency exhibited in the UBC case.

This past weekend at Queen’s, as police infiltrated every nook and cranny of the Ghetto, there weren’t obvious exploitations of power, although some flirting occurred in successful attempts to get out of tickets. The cops were generally approachable and professional.

Nonetheless, that the UBC incident happened on campus and under such ordinary circumstances is unsettling. It’s imperative there be disciplinary penalties for the RCMP officers to ensure this is an isolated incident. While we complain of hardline police attitudes in Kingston, the opposite would yield exploitative and corruptive results.

All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s)-in-Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be contacted, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca.

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