Canadian Police As Violent As Some American Police Officers?

[Rainman]

A Vancouver police officer smashed a motorist's window for refusing to comply with his demands before dragging him out.

The police officer "had smelled marijuana" but for some reason, the driver who claims he's prescribed marijuana for medical purposes refused to get out of his car when the police officer demanded so.

"I was physically assaulted and it has left me emotionally traumatized. I do not feel safe anymore.

He should have thought about that before defying a police officer.

Vancouver, Canada police say the driver was being charged with possession of a controlled substance, possession for the purposes of trafficking and obstructing a police officer.

Did the police officer do the right thing? Smash a window so he could make an arrest?

 

[missbishi]

If the guy had nothing to hide, why did he refuse to get out of his car? He clearly had no medical card for it at all and the stupid thing is, if he'd just got out of the car and admitted it, he'd be in a bit less trouble now.

It seems quite heavy-handed at first but I expect the man's refusal to get out of the vehicle was a clear indication of guilt to the cop.

 

[May102014]

I need to see the entire story. I wish you would have posted a link so I could read it in full. Also, even if the motorist refused to get out of the car, the officer shouldn't resort to such drastic actions to remove a motorist from a vehicle by destroying property. I could see if the motorist was belligerent and combative but if this wasn't the case, then such use of force is not justify. It's easy to blame a victim but I have seen far too many instances of people doing virtually nothing and being subjected to horrible treatment.

 

[hellonamesdan]

Just because Canadians have a reputation for being a more peaceful people, especially compared to Americans, that doesn't mean that every single Canadian is like that.

 

[Shimus]

Exactly what the post above me said. You can't limit how people act due to region or country. Everyone is going to have some nutbar whackjobs among them, or some typically high strung people.

Again, I'd need to read the full article to get the full view of it, but when the cop smashed the window after 'probable cause' (I assume it is) it became less of what the dude wanted and more of what the cop was going to pin on him, so I see no reason why he would not cooperate with them and drive off rather than refuse and cause a scene. Perhaps the officer was a dick, or abusing how he talked to the man. Perhaps he was completely in the right and the dude was going to sell a bunch of pot to some people so he stopped a trafficker. Whatever the case may be, it seems like this all could have been easily avoided.