No one is safe when police abuse power.

Re: Panel not for me and Police did job well, May14.

Some Ottawa police beat and set dogs on innocent people, including children and the elderly, according to protesters’ accounts given to a public meeting at St. Paul’s University that I attended. The officers detained and stripped some citizens without laying charges and without granting prompt access to legal representation.

No sensible person can argue that such abuses against innocent people are necessary or effective in preventing vandalism by a few thugs. The only credible explanations for these violations of basic rights are either that the police overreacted in fear or anger or that they were deliberately trying to intimidate people by sheer brutality.

No one is safe when our security forces behave in such a manner. There are examples all over the world and throughout history to prove that the only way a state can stifle dissent, even temporarily, is through extreme repression and violence, which leads to social and economic chaos in which everyone suffers.

Most police officers are decent, dedicated men and women. They work under great pressure and wield great power. Violent abuse of this power is a common problem in Canada, as everywhere in the world.

If we don’t want this trend to continue, then citizens have to demand that our security forces act within the law. Ottawa Police have to acknowledge what happened at the G20 protests and work with all groups to ensure future demonstrations remain peaceful.

Cecilia M. Cranston, Ottawa