No dhummie cop
Apparently, Windsor Police Chief Gary Smith has gotten himself into hot water with ‘anti-muslim’ community which sees any action that reeks of tolerance or consideration for the religious sensibilities of Canadian Muslims as a betrayal to the larger non-Muslim community rather than what it really is – a a gesture of respect. CBC
Windsor, Ont.’s chief of police has publicly apologized to the city’s Islamic community after officers who arrested two Muslim men suspected of involvement in a radical Islamist group offended and embarrassed the men’s families in the process.
“We’re looking at what we can do differently, what we would do differently here, and that’s going to take us a little while longer,” Chief Gary Smith told a news conference on Thursday. His comments relate to an incident on Oct. 30 during which Windsor police assisted the RCMP in arresting Yassir Ali Khan, 30, and Mohammad Al-Sahli, 33. The two were wanted by the the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation on charges of conspiracy to commit federal crimes. During that arrest, the wife of one of the suspects was padded down by a male officer.
One of the things me and the tribe often do in the summer is sit out on the porch in the evenings and watch the Toronto Police raid various homes up and down the street. Its one of the unofficial perks of living on the downtown eastside – we do not have to watch cops shows on television to be entertained.
Being a veteran Toronto Police raid watcher there was one thing about this Windsor raid which struck me as unusual and that is the fact that no woman officer was present to pat down any potential females found in house during the raid. While I recognize my experience is purely anecdotal I suspect the reason for having a female officer on site is to protect the any females from any questionable or inappropriate conduct by a male officer as well as working to ensure a defence from unfounded charges of inappropriate conduct by a male officer towards a female suspect. And before anyone gets on their high horse I would simply state its not unheard of for a male police officer to be charged and convicted of sexual assault before.
But it isn’t only religious Muslim woman who would find it humiliating and/or being unnecessarily degrading to be ‘patted down’ by a male officer. Religious Jewish women wouldn’t be thrilled either. I do not see how a small accommodation to the religious sensibilities of others is necessarily a bad thing. But by all means, go ahead and convince me.
There was a time when Canadians were famous for their tolerance and respect towards others. I am glad to see Windsor Police Chief Gary Smith hasn’t entirely lost sight of that value even if other Canadians see it as sign of submission rather than a strength of character.
