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Aug 29
2008
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Criminals Turned Into "Victims"Posted by Raphael Alexander in crime |
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If anyone lives in Vancouver, they've likely been following the Kyle Tait inquest, the story of a 16 year-old boy who was shot and killed by New Westminster police officer Todd Sweet in August 2005. The radio has been abuzz with word of the testimony of various witnesses, including the driver of the stolen SUV who refused to stop for police that fateful night. Some background information:
Const. Todd Sweet killed Kyle Tait, 16, in August 2005 at the end of a police pursuit. Tait was a passenger in the vehicle, which police said had tried to ram a police car. A police investigation found no criminal wrongdoing by Sweet in Tait's shooting.
Sweet — an 18-year veteran of the police force, a firearms instructor and former member of the emergency response team — testified that he and his partner were following the SUV in their cruiser when it turned onto a dead-end street.
Sweet managed to block the SUV with his vehicle, but the driver rammed the cruiser twice, Sweet testified.
Fearing for the life of his partner, who was somewhere on the vulnerable side of the car, Sweet then yelled at the driver to stop and then opened fire to prevent a third ramming, he testified.
The SUV stopped and Sweet then ran over and opened the door to arrest the driver.
"That was the first time I realized anyone else was inside the vehicle. I heard screaming," Sweet said.
There were five teenagers in the vehicle, including 16-year-old Tait, who was killed by one of Sweet's bullets.
The testimony has created a rift in Vancouver among those who think the cop exceeded his authority of force, and those who think he only acted in the interests of the safety of society. In a sense, both sides are right. And wrong.
It's been revealed that Todd Sweet wasn't exactly a model police officer. He was suspended once for assault causing bodily harm for kicking a suspect in the head who was already handcuffed, and was handed a suspended sentence. There is also a contradiction between his testimony that he didn't know there were five occupants in the vehicle, and earlier police communications that speculated there were at least four. It's also considered unusual for him to have fired on the passenger side when he was trying to apprehend the driver. There's also an apparent "eye-witness" who heard only one crash followed by three gunshots.
There's no doubt that there's more to the story than meets the eye with Constable Todd Sweet. There's a very real chance he's an unsavory character who took an opportunity to unload into a car full of native kids. But what we seem to be losing sight of here while we're arguing about whether it was the fault of the kids, or the fault of the cop, is that it was likely a mixture of two elements that led to predictably deadly consequences. A hot-headed police officer pursuing a bunch of criminal youth who were joy-riding in a stolen vehicle.
According to the driver, Ian Campbell, who was 18 at the time, stealing cars was his line of work. He stole cars for a living and turned them into a Surrey "chop shop" which would then the cars overseas. This kid's sole contribution to society was engaged in inflicting harm to others by stealing their mode of transportation. He was clearly willing to defend that occupation with deadly force, if necessary, and displayed it on the night in question when Kyle Hait was shot and killed. And let's not be naive here. These kids knew they were in a stolen car, knew they were running with bad company, knew they were running from police, and knew they were threatening the safety of both police officers and the public at large. The final straw was the fact that they ran a roadblock, and then tried to ram a police cruiser.
There's a crude expression for what happens to people who flirt with dangerous circumstances. "You f*ck with the bull, you get the horn".
Kyle Tait was only 16, but he made some rather poor choices early in life. I have no doubt that if he hadn't been shot that night, he'd likely still be engaged in illegal activities, perhaps helping Ian Campbell steal cars for a living, and contributing to the underbelly of crime that plagues New Westminster and East Vancouver.
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Fenris Badwulf
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... Its too bad that these poor oppressed Canadians were forced to ram the bad old po-lice car after this victim was unjustifiably shot. I know every tiime that I wave a gun at a cop, they wet their pants. White privilege, eh? |
Raphael Alexander
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... Fenris, the police barely take the time to nod to me as I fire my weapon in public. You see, it has to do with my "invisible backpack" which holds a load of my white privilege. Adding to that load is my maleness, which doubles my invisible backpack. I literally have to threaten another fellow white male of privilege with death before I can get a decent beatdown by the police, and even then it's a hollow and joyless beating. You can tell they'd much rather be doing it to someone of a typically aggrieved class of victims and minorities. |
Fenris Badwulf
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... You know Raphael, that is good advice. I am going to fire weapons in public. Maybe something more traditional, like mustard gas, or a biologial agent. Nothing will happen, and nobody will notice. |
Elane
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... or cyanide - why not? no big deal these days and cheap at twice the price. http://www.canada.com/vancouve...cb6810d700 |
Lloyd
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... I've been following this case for awhile. The punk driver testified that he'd raised his hands palms inward and off the wheel when fired upon. I can't believe that testimonyas anyone taking his hands off the wheel would naturally have his palms facing outwards. Attacking the cop car with their own car got them what they deserved - and piss on what color anyone was. |
Elane
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... Ya me too Lloyd (following this case). I have seen the NWPD take down a car load of juveniles in a stolen vehicle. It was noisy. One would have thought the kiddies were being sliced and diced by the NWPD but they were just noisy. The police did not know there were any "witnesses". The incident happened in a dead end area with no visibility from the streets or elsewhere. It was by fluke we were there, just passing by as the incident began and ended.nnThere were at least 5 kiddies in the car. The one behind the wheel was so small that it could not see OVER the wheel. I would say that these children ranged from 10 to 14. Hard to say though. But that was my read. Aneeeways, the children yelled, howled, tried to run, but the long arms of the law captured the little darlings and subdued them with a good hearty bark "lay down don't move". nnObediently even we in the trees lay down. Sit and Stay. nnWe did not see any abuse except that pouring forth from the mouths of the little angels being handcuffed. Satisfied that nothing untoward was happening, we finished our smoke and disappeared.nnOh did I mention that the little children were trying to evade the police and (mistakenly) they drove up to a deadend underground parking garage and were trying to ram the steel door and back up in their effort to "escape"? nnBy the way, Mom doesn't blame or hold responsible the friend of her dead son, a known car thief, who was driving the vehicle. It's always someone else's fault and least of all hers. She is the victim. Compensate this woman. Give her the full value of what her son might have been expected to earn as a car jockey. nnI don't like coppers tasering people to death over WHAT? However, cops have a hard job to do, they are dealing with violence and they are armed and legally dangerous. When any person wielding a vehicle as a weapon comes at you and your means of evasion are limited (as it was in that concrete sided entry to the underground parking lot where I witnessed a take down) - lie down and die? I think not.n |
rumplestiltskim
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... Yes, the mother does not blame the boy driving the car for the incident. With this sort of mindset, it is no wonder her son was out of control. In this type of Universe, there's no self responsibility, or any idea that choices have consequences. It's always somebody else's fault. |
