LET JUSTICE BE SEEN
Police are tasked with upholding the law, so when they’re accused of breaking it, the public has cause to be concerned.
Citizens don’t necessarily demand that police officers be treated more harshly, but they do expect justice to be carried out fairly.
The policing committee of the Criminal Trial Lawyers’ Association has raised concerns about the prosecutors who are assigned to cases involving police officers accused of criminal wrongdoing, pointing to a number of instances where high-profile files were placed in the hands of officials with little legal experience.
“We think that it may be that some prosecutions of police officers are terminated or not diligently prosecuted because the prosecutor does not have his/her heart in it,” committee chair Tom Engel wrote in an open letter to the government. “Regardless if this is true or not, if even the appearance of that is created, that is a serious problem, undermining public confidence in the administration of justice.”
The committee has suggested the government establish a pool of experienced prosecutors to handle such cases — seasoned professionals with expertise in police procedures and use of force. In fact, a special prosecutions branch already exists that manages files that include politicians, members of the judiciary and all public officials where the offence is alleged to have occurred on the job.
“The prosecution of police officers should be handled in the same way,” wrote Engel. “Indeed, in reviewing this policy, we are surprised that police officers are not already treated as public officials.” Engel said his group believes prosecutors may on occasion be susceptible to intimidation by police. “We have been informed that, in some cases, the police have exerted serious and unacceptable pressure on the prosecutor, even appearing at trials to create an intimidating atmosphere for the prosecutor. All prosecutors who prosecute these types of cases must be courageous.” That’s not to say inexperienced prosecutors can’t be brave, but Engel makes a strong argument for ensuring cases involving law enforcement officers are properly managed in order to maintain public confidence.
“Both the prosecution and defence of criminal charges against police officers are important, high-stakes undertakings,” he wrote. “From the defence perspective, it generally would be unacceptable to assign such junior counsel to defend. It would be unfair to both the client and the lawyer. It is no different for the Crown, who represents society.”
The government should take the advice of the Criminal Trial Lawyers’ Association. Justice, after all, must not only be done, but it must be seen to be done.