The cop who said no to ‘kettling’

Amid the deluge of stories over the past two years recounting G20 police abuses, the efforts of good officers — those who kept a moral compass firmly pointed under trying circumstances — have largely gone unheralded.

The OIPRD has identified at least one: Staff Sgt. Bradley Thompson of the Ontario Provincial Police.

The 26-year veteran said he was led to believe there would be no kettling at the G20.

But when Thompson — a unit commander during the summit — and his 40-officer team were called to Spadina Ave. and Queen St. W. that notorious Sunday in June 2010, they found hundreds of people boxed inside police lines.

In a witness statement he gave to the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD), Thompson said that as the rain poured down, he observed people of all states of dress who were pale and shaking, appearing “sad” and “dumfounded.”

An OIPRD investigative report into the kettling incident paraphrases Thompson as saying the people inside “couldn’t believe that the police could be so ‘inhumane’ to hold them in the intersection and not allow them to use a washroom or get shelter or a coat.”

Thompson soon saw people he said were in “bad shape” — among them, two shivering 12-year-old girls. He decided it wasn’t healthy for the girls to stay there, and opted to release them “quietly.”

The report, along with others released by the police complaint’s watchdog last week, offers, for the first time, on-the-ground accounts from frontline officers. The arm’s-length agency, unlike others probing the G20, has the power to compel officers to speak.

Because there are ongoing hearings under the Police Services Act, OPP spokeswoman Cathy Bell said Tuesday that Thompson was not able to comment.

According to the report, Thompson spoke with York Regional Police Insp. Norm Miles, the officer in command of Thompson’s team, about removing people in medical distress. Thompson stated he was told any removal was to appear as though it were an arrest.

Miles could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Thompson walked with the girls to the side of a building half a block away, and then instructed Toronto Police officers nearby to ensure they got home safely.

He did the same for a middle-aged couple he “truly” believed was on the verge of medical distress.

Thompson told the OIPRD he witnessed a York Region police sergeant also releasing people, and asked if he had the authority to do so.

The sergeant told him he didn’t know, but said something to the effect that the people he removed “didn’t belong there,” Thompson said.

Thompson told the OIPRD he had no idea how the situation deteriorated to the point of kettling, adding that in his opinion the practice is not a “sound tactical move.”

He also said he did not hear any announcements by the police advising the crowd what was happening.

“(Thompson) said it would stand to reason that if you wanted a group of people to cause the least amount of problems that you would inform them about what is going on,” says the report.

Original Article
Source: Star
Author: Wendy Gillis and Jayme Poisson