Police brutality is a national pandemic

Dear Editor:

Regarding two letters from Elvena Slump lamenting the cop bashing (Herald, June 5), I had to read them a few times to understand who was bashing who.

I watched the video from Kelowna and I saw the cop dash over, as if he was Superman, and start bashing on the suspect. Shame. Shame. Shame.

We’ve all watched the video of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the shameful shoving of a senior into serious condition in Buffalo. Police brutality is pandemic. Yet, as hundreds of thousands of protesters around the world march against police brutality, Donald Trump’s answer is to send in the National Guard and brutally attacked the protesters. Seriously? The brutality must stop.

The suspect in Kelowna was sent to hospital to take care of his injuries, and the bashing cop put on administrative duties until the inquiry is completed. Do the research and you’ll find that in Canada, police brutallity is pandemic, as is racism. The initial two officers doing the arrest, could just have easily punched out the suspect, but chose not. The bashing cop is no hero in my mind.

I am tired of hearing “it’s just one bad apple.” We know that homicide, caused by the police in Canada has more than doubled in the last 20 years. Get rid of all those bad apples before all the basket turns bad and taint the good ones that serve and protect us.

Elvena, you’re on the wrong side of history on this one. Silence leads to more violence.

Derek Morgan

Penticton