International Law

Vox populi

The CBC, who broke the story, have more updates on the controversy over the release of a police surveillance videotape that shows a 15-year-old girl being restrained within a padded cell after being picked up for drunk and disorderly behaviour.

Specifcally, the video shows Willow Kinlock being handcuffed and having her legs bound with a nylon strap and her feet secured to the bottom of the cell door, which gave her just a few centimetres to move. She was left in this position for four hours.

Today the B. C. Civil Liberties Association called such treatment torture. Kinloch’s family has filed a civil lawsuit against the City of Victoria and the four officers involved. Several investigative probes have also been ordered.

Personally I found the video (footage here) outrageous. The CBC provides the following background:

The use of the restraint is governed by the Victoria Police Department’s use-of-force guidelines, which state, “A prisoner who is violent or likely to injure can be placed in the modifed restraint strap. But once the officer is satisfied the prisoner is under control . . . the restraint shall be removed.”

In other words, such force is only to be applied when necessary, and to the extent necessary. And as far as necessity is concerned:

Victoria police told CBC News the use of the restraint was necessary because the 1.5 metre tall girl was drunk, swearing at officers, had to be forcibly removed from a police car, was kicking the door of the cell, and grabbed one officer on the arm.

She was swearing? So what? How does any of this make Ms. Kinlock’s restraint within the cell necessary? Once she was in the cell she was under control. She should have been left to dry out, like any other drunk.

The depressing thing about the CBC’s coverage comes from their “Your View” page, where people have a chance to comment on the story. This particular story has attracted a lot of attention, over 300 comments when I checked this morning, a great deal of it harshly unsympathetic to the prisoner. Basically these comments rant about how Ms. Kinlock got what she deserved, that the police were as restrained in the use of force as possible, that the lawsuit is just a cash grab, and that the real villains of the piece were the girl’s delinquent parents.

Wow. There’s a lot of hate out there.

Full post as published by Criminal Review on January 24, 2008 (boomark / email).