I'm guessing Hamilton Chief Brian Mullan's letter to Santa starts with a new suit. One to replace his tattered and hole riddled suit of armour that he currently wears. While he's at it I bet he's wishing some elves could sprinkle a little magic dust over his entire force and make the miriad of troubles disappear.
Well, unfortunately this isn't "Never, Never Land" and unless serious changes are made at the top, Mullan's reign as top cop won't end with "Happily Ever After".
2006, to say the least hasn't been a good year for morale and public trust for Hamilton Police. Corruption, bribery, drunkeness and racism are a few of the allegations that have been lobbied against the once solid "blue wall" of honour. The cracks are getting wider with each volley.
Let's look at the dishonour that faces Mullan and his team of damage control consultants.
* The Michael Dixon case. He is a black trade-show worker who was mistakenly arrested by officers allegedly chasing a white suspect. The officers were later disciplined for not properly following up on his alibi. Dixon has launched a human rights racial discrimination complaint and civil lawsuit.
* Police Service Board member Jane Mulkewich says she fears racial bias is a systemic problem in the service. Officers are outraged by her remark and are angry Mullan did not come to their defence.
* Eight officers are currently facing Police Act Charges on a variety of matters ranging from sexual harassment to drinking on duty and ignoring calls to attempting to extort money from the public.
* Another officer was recently criminally charged with bribery.
*Most recently a Hamilton police constable has been fined three days pay for failing to investigate a pizzeria manager's claim he had been assaulted by a patron.
What the Police are saying in their defense,
* Officers say their workload has become unmanageable thanks to a rising number of officers on sick leave, increases in calls for service and complicated and voluminous paperwork.
* Some officers are unhappy about a recent round of promotions, saying those who volunteer and take continuing education courses are rewarded more than people who have the skills to be good supervisors.
* Mullan's appearance at parade is being met with a money-where-your-mouth-is attitude from his officers.
Interesting note, all these problems come at a time when Police association members have been without a contract since Dec. 31, 2005. It sounds like at lot of buck passing to me. In reality its more like a few bad apples are finally being culled from the barrell and creating a stink. The problem is, we don't know how far the rot has gone. Have these bad cops corrupted the new generation so badly, it has left Hamiltonian's questioning how safe they are?
Later,
Kenaz
