With one, or possibly two, notable exceptions, there is a very, *very* easy way to ensure that nobody else in Canada dies or suffers as a result of injuries they received during arrest by police or RCMP. But here’s the thing. The media doesn’t want you to know about this. Politicians don’t want you to know about this. I’m sure the police themselves would LOVE for you to know about this, because it would make their jobs an awful lot easier, but it’s been kept under wraps for decades now.
And I’m not talking about instances where the police and/or RCMP actually were out of hand, like in the Robert Dziekański tragedy or the Bee Ess perpetrated at the recent G20 conferences. I’m talking about when the police do their jobs the way they’re supposed to; the way they’re trained to, without prejudice and when they follow procedures and guidelines that are there for a Very Good Reason. I won’t be naïve enough to say that sometimes, people in positions of authority do bad things. And I won’t be naïve enough not to say that sometimes, people in positions of authority have to use force.
But here’s the thing. And I’m probably going to get in trouble for talking about this…
If you don’t do illegal things, then the police will not arrest you. This all kind of boils down to the ‘be nice to one another’ thing, really. Don’t be a douche, and you won’t get pepper sprayed, handcuffed, manhandled, spindled, or mutilated. It’s also very anti-common-sense. I realise this. Most of the time, we walk down the street and think, “you know, I bet smashing these windows out with an axe would be perfectly cool!” and “if I punch him/her *just a little bit*, no one will be the wiser…”
But I’ll tell you; if you don’t do those things, there is a *very good chance* you will not be arrested. Which greatly reduces your chances of being injured during arrest.
Because here’s the deal: paramilitary operations like the police and the RCMP and the people who work in school libraries to make sure you’re supposed to be there and aren’t skipping English to hang out in the library reading books about the holocaust all receive special training. They are trained to incapacitate people who are posing a threat to themselves or others. Or to their permanent academic records, apparently.
It is a sad, sad state of affairs that we actually need to hire people to keep us safe from ourselves. I mean, if you really think about it, the heights to which being an arsehole can go is surpassed only by people’s willingness to try to get higher on the arsehole to human scale. Sure, there are underlying issues that contribute to arseholery, like addiction, poverty, mental illness, fear, and hopelessness. But there really are some people who seem to think that life is a race to see who can devolve the fastest.
If you’re one of those people, this advice probably won’t help you anyway. But. Just thought I’d put that PSA out there. Don’t be a cocknobbler, and you won’t get injured during arrest, because you won’t be getting arrested.
i make squee noises when you tell me stuff.