(Prime Time Crime exclusive Feb. 28, 2005)
Good Cop Can't Find Justice
By Leo Knight
Justice is a fleeting concept, one in which those who enforce our laws in the mean streets of the nation, are perpetually disappointed.
But, as a cop, you get used to the frustrations of a system so canted in favour of the rights of the criminal. The latest insult on one's sensibilities from the judiciary, the politicians or the ermine clad wonders warming the Supreme Court bench, generate yet another shrug of the shoulders and the expression: "Don't matter, it's all pensionable service."
Or you get out.
But for every police officer who is prepared to accept the systemic status quo, there are those who believe theirs is more than just a job, theirs is a calling. I suppose at some level every cop believes this at the outset. The system has a way of dulling the senses over time. But, some soldier on, resolute in the belief that what they do matters.
Such is a member of the RCMP named Donovan Tait. For the last ten years, Tait has been living his dream. It's all he ever wanted to do. He is the sort of Mountie who got stuck into his community, lock, stock and barrel. From school talks, to community hockey coaching, Tait saw his role as a community participant and a leader, a poster boy really for RCMP recruiting.
Did I mention the fact Donovan Tait is also black? No, probably not. Because Tait was never one to push his race as a method to get ahead in the affirmative action style of the oh-so-politically correct world of today's RCMP. Go look at any recruiting poster and you'll catch my drift.
But, for all the good things Tait has done in his policing career, for all the things he represents as a role model, a police officer, a coach and a friend, he is in distinct danger of losing his job and everything that is important to him.
Why? Because he is human.
He arrested a bad guy, a criminal with history, for stealing from his employer in the type of case that police see every day, but you never read about.
The man was handcuffed but fought every step of the way. In the back seat of the police car, the suspect was struggling violently and during the course of which, he spit directly into the face and eyes of Tait.
Struggling in the close quarters of the back of the car, having lost a contact lens and with an eye closed because of the spit, Tait fought back, smacking the man three times. One of the punches connected with the sweet spot, so to speak, breaking the man's jaw.
Well, good punch I say.
But not so the system. All of the charges against the alleged thief were dropped and the full weight of the Crown was brought to bear on Constable Tait.
He was convicted in Provincial Court after a trial presided over by none other than the Chief Judge, Carol Baird-Ellan, a judge who has sparred with yours truly in the past over what I consider wrong and ill-considered decisions by judges of the Provincial Court.
She looked down her nose at an upstanding member of the RCMP and believed all the nonsense spouted by the guy who should have been in shackles and in the dock.
What should have never been in front of a judge in the first place, resulted in the criminal conviction of an honourable man serving his community and his country.
In 1978, before the last lay Judge in BC, Ernie Anderson, I had charged someone with Assault Police Officer for spitting in my face. Anderson, blessed with a large amount of common sense, said, "spitting in the face is the most degrading form of assault that a police officer can endure", promptly registering a conviction against the spitter. Whom, I might add, was a female. Had she not possessed an extra X chromosome, I daresay I might have reacted in exactly the same manner as Tait did.
Tait, who has since been transferred from North Vancouver to Sooke, on Vancouver Island, was shaken to the core with the conviction. To appeal, as he should, would take more money than he has and will not be paid for by the RCMP.
On the Island he was coaching a group of teenaged boys in hockey. He was their mentor and he reveled in the role. After the conviction he can no longer do that. He had to get a parent to escort him into the dressing room to tell those boys why. He said it was the hardest thing he's ever had to do.
Maybe I'm a bit of a dinosaur, a child of the "old school," if you will, but if you spit in my face I'm going to hit you. If I'm in a struggle and can't see, I'm going to keep hitting until the fight is over. That's what a street cop needs to do to survive.
I'm reminded of a case back in the late '70s in Langley where we were trying to contain an armed robbery suspect. One of the officers on the file was Constable Randy Kirkoski, no Rhodes scholar, but a good cop.
During the court case, the defendant's lawyer asked Kirkoski if he punched his client. Kirkoski replied, "Yes I did."
"Why," was the dutiful question from the lawyer.
"To subdue him," said Kirkoski.
"And," continued the legal beagle, "Did you hit him again? And, if so, why?"
"Yes," said the cop who hailed from Kenora, Ontario, "to subdue him."
The lawyer, now bristling with indignation, asked if Kirkoski had hit him a third time and received another reply in the affirmative with the same justification. And asking if he hit him a fourth time, the indignant lawyer received a negative response. "And why not, if you had already punched him three times?"
"Because," said the deadpan cop, "He was subdued."
The reality is that cops have to fight sometimes. It is never their choice and they don't start the fights. But their lives depend on their ability to finish it. Kirkoski, like Tait, did his job. Anyone who says different is wrong. And in that statement, I include the good lady, the Chief Judge of the Provincial Court of British Columbia.
One hopes the management of the RCMP in Ottawa understand that as well.
-30-
I am a good friend of Cst. Donovan Tait, I have had the pleasure of knowing him for about four years now. I met Donovan through his finacee whom I have known for about 8 years. I have seen him in many different settings and around many different people and I would say with confidence that I would put my life in his hands. So much of what Donovan does on a daily basis is for the benefit of others, not even thinking twice about himself.
For many years I have had serious trust issues with men which stems from my past, and I have never had an issue with him. My two boys love him so much and have spent quite a great deal of time with him. I trust him 100% with my children, and I can't say that of many people. The reason I have taken the time to write in today is because I simply wanted to voice my disgust for a system that has again favoured the bad guy.
It seems to me that this judge has it out for Dononvan based on some built up anger for all Cops and I think that she has made some serious errors in her decision. Did she listen to the case as a whole or just in part. It saddens me to think that this guy who couldn't get his story straight has walked free of all charges and Donovan Tait's fate lies in the hands of this Judge!
I am not sure how we can give Officer's certain powers to enforce the law and expect that they will keep us safe at all costs. Isn't that what Donovan was doing? A struggle in a small confined space, he tries to subdue some crazed lunatic who then assaults him again by spitting in his face. What is it that we as a society expect an Officer of the Law to do? I know that I would have probably reacted the same way, the end result would probably be less severe though.
I say good riddence to the guys like this who make a mockery of the system!! Myself and my family are all proud of Donovan, for the caring friend that he is and for the great job he does in serving our community. I only hope that Judge Baird Ellan remembers what Imprisonment is for; and knows that it is absolutely not necessary in this case as she does not need to protect the public from this man. In fact it is clearly the opposite!
Lynn B.