Police 'over-reacted' at G20: Report

Some protesters were 'brutalized' by Ottawa department members, citizens panel finds

BY GARE JOYCE

Ottawa police "over-reacted" and made "serious mistakes" in their handling of protests at the G20 summit in October, according to the report filed by the Citizens Panel on Policing and the Community.

The report calls for the police to publicly acknowledge these mistakes and to issue an apology to protesters.

"We heard from people who were brutalized for no good reason," said panel member Anne Squire, former moderator of the United Church of Canada. "If we are going to move on and learn from this and rebuild the community's trust in the police, they will have to admit to these mistakes as a first step."

The panel called for sweeping changes in the policing of demonstrations, including "educating police on what is at issue at these events" and having officers accompany marchers along their routes.

Rev. Peter Coffin, a member of the five-person panel, described the recommendations as "seminal ... some are very broad."

The chairwoman of the panel, former Ottawa mayor Marion Dewar, said "transparency" was the key issue in the report.

"There were police without identifiable badges working the demonstrations," she said. "That's clearly against existing policies."

"Without that transparency, without being able to identify the officers in question, it's impossible to have accountability."

Ms. Dewar maintained the report was "balanced" and tried to see "both sides" of the events of last October.

"We didn't go into this to simply criticize the police and I don't believe that we have done that," she said. "We have called for changes to be made by those who would demonstrate. For instance, we recommended that protesters have readily identifiable leaders in a march, people whom the police or protesters can seek out."

The panel members said many of their recommendations match those included in a report filed by Ottawa Police Chief Vince Bevan.

"What we have recommended with the use of police dogs - to have them as support on the perimeter - is almost word for word what appears in Chief Bevan's report," Ms. Dewar said. The police chief agreed there is "a substantial degree of common ground." "Many of the issues we have raised for public discussion in the Agenda for Excellence have also been identified as recommendations in the panel's report," said Chief Bevan. The panel members did not believe the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, and violence at protest events elsewhere in the world, justified the policing of the G20 summit. "The tragic events of Sept. 11 don't explain the police's treatment of citizens, the vast majority of whom were demonstrating peacefully" said Rev. Coffin. "It was just a handy rationalization. Until (the police) acknowledge their mistakes, it will be difficult to restore trust between the police and the community."

The report also suggested the media were alarmist in their coverage of the protests.

"The only property damage at the event was one broken window at a McDonald's on Bank Street," said Dr. Squire. "Yet that was the photo that appeared for days. That was the image that was used on television news reports throughout."

"Any property damage is too much and we're not condoning it at all," said Ms. Dewar. "But the fact was that there was a bare minimum of damage and a distorted picture presented to the public."

The panel filed its report and. recommendations at a public meeting at First United Church last night. The panel had listened to presentations and received written submissions at public meetings this winter.

Ms. Dewar said it will be difficult to implement some of the recommendations in time for the G8 summit in Kananaskis, Alta., in June.

"I don't believe that some of the elements can be turned around in time," she said. "First, it will take time to restore the trust in the community for the police. That will take some time."