Living in Interesting Times...

We live in interesting times. Julian Fantino is elected to Parliament as a Tory on Liberal turf, prompting Hog Town media to warn of barbarians at the gates of that centre of the known universe. Days later, Billy Elliott (the RCMP commissioner, not the dancer) tells CBC radio that he has the support of senior officers (who have not retired early or gone to work for the OPP).

With the planets so curiously aligned, I feel compelled to join the fray. Behold, The Thin Bruised Line has hit the blogosphere to complement the book that hit the shelves a few months ago and a web site set to hit the ether soon. You're welcome.

As policemen and women chorus across this fair land, eyeballs rolling back into skulls, "Oh good, just what we need ... another non-cop to 'fix' us." Fair enough, but hear me out...

As an ambulance jockey in my misspent youth, toiling alongside frontline officers in the trenches in often dark and unhappy places, I saw them as few do. Their courage and compassion shone as they rescued and comforted strangers at their most vulnerable on the worst day of their lives. Search as I might, I found no knuckle-dragging mouth breathers, shattering that false stereotype early for me.

Cops intrigue me. They often won't share information but are tremendous gossips and second only to those in the military for creative bitching. I shared their dark gallows humour, a release for the condemned who believe no good deed goes unpunished, and a mutual disdain for the media. I hated journalists back then... and then I was one. No one is more surprised than I.

In this age of media convergence, of the bottom line replacing the deadline, complicated by the rush to post a story first online, leaves little time or inclination for fact checking and context. That has left me leery of the media and a bit of a lone wolf trying to document policing as it is rather than how special interests wish it was. A police chief once lamented that the cameras are never around when you do good; screw up and the world descends to accuse.

The cops can't be everywhere nor be all things to all people. That's a recipe for disaster. But the reality is that every problem -- social, economic, corporate, educational, historical, generational, natural or man-made disaster, and even some mental-health issues -- left unresolved by those who exist to address it will be unceremoniously dumped in the laps of the police who will be told: "Fix this!" And when they do, there will be little thanks for a job well done.

It's worse today, when there are too few boots on the ground, careerism trumping consideration for the frontline grunts who fear their superiors will abandon or betray them to preserve their own jobs or fail to resist political pressure that goes far beyond civilian oversight. Police agree they should be accountable and held responsible for their words and deeds; they just wish others would be held equally accountable.

In the end, the police can't do their job without the help of those they are sworn to serve and protect. Our social contract with police does not absolve us from a duty to help them do theirs. Love them or hate them, the police alone stand between us and truly evil folks. If they fail or falter, it is open season on the rest of us.

The police need back up and a forum to speak up. The vaunted Thin Blue Line is now a Thin Bruised Line. And that's why I'm writing this blog. You can soon read more at http://www.freepressadvocate.ca/ But don't wait for it to send me your thoughts, suggestions and ideas for issues to tackle concerning policing, politicking or the press. Drop me a line at doug.clark@sympatico.ca

Then buckle up and enjoy the ride. We all know that making the world a better place tends to be a bumpy ride.