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Cop beat invites critics (again)

You’re a cop hater. You’re a cop lover. Actually, your cop coverage is fairly balanced. Blah, blah, blah… I’ve heard it all in this job, folks.
montague
More than 200 Vancouver cops have been injured on the job this year. Const. Brian Montague, a VPD media liaison officer, has suffered all types of injuries in his 22-year career. Photo Dan Toulgoet

 

You’re a cop hater.

You’re a cop lover.

Actually, your cop coverage is fairly balanced.

Blah, blah, blah…

I’ve heard it all in this job, folks.

So I wasn’t surprised the swinging pendulum of criticism/praise struck again this month; that’s what happens when you answer your phone.

In a double-barrelled blast, I caught a bit more buckshot after a recent story I wrote about the number of people who required medical treatment at a hospital because of incidents involving police.

Did you know that people in the care or custody of the Vancouver Police Department who required some form of treatment has steadily increased since 2011 and could reach 200 people by year’s end?

Of course you did.

That’s because you’re a loyal reader and would also know the majority of injuries since 2011 were caused by police dog bites followed by “empty hand” takedowns, according to my review of VPD reports on injuries and statistics obtained from the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner.

Interesting information, right?

Interesting but requiring some balance, said one semi-irate caller. Besides, he continued, all those injured people probably deserved it. Another caller prattled on about the good work cops do, that they have a tough job and don’t get any respect from media.

Alright, alright, already.

So after I hung up, I called Const. Brian Montague, a VPD media liaison officer, to provide me with some statistics and stories on how tough the job really is.

First, the stats: In 2013, 290 cops were injured on the job. Another 279 got hurt last year and more than 200 to date this year. We’re talking everything from scrapes, bumps, bruises, cuts and broken bones -- any injury that required treatment -- to being mowed down by a car while sitting in a restaurant.

Now the stories: Montague has been a cop for 22 years. He’s been spit on, bitten in the leg, hit in the head with a metal pipe, attacked with scissors, slashed with a razor blade and had a food container dropped on him from the third floor of Downtown Eastside hotel.

Someone tried to shoot him, too.

Tried to shoot him?

“The gun jammed on him,” he said.

Montague, who has lost count of the number of times he’s been punched and kicked, said other veteran officers have suffered similar or more severe injuries over their careers.

What I’ve heard from some officers – and that includes the Mounties – is the public’s respect for police has waned. Teachers tell me the same thing about their profession. So do journalists but they’re a notoriously grumpy bunch, anyway.

“Am I hearing a change in respect or attitude towards officers? We’re definitely seeing that. We’re seeing people that are definitely more confrontational with police,” said Montague, noting those same people are often high on drugs or booze.

There are also those people who fall into the “suicide by cop” category, which – as the term explains – involves a desperate person wanting the cops to shoot him.

Kind of a dangerous game.

Coincidentally, in the writing of this piece, the Ministry of Justice issued a press release announcing 66 cops in B.C. received awards for valour and meritorious service.

At least 12 were from the VPD.

Two of them rescued a man trapped in a submerged vehicle. Another two extinguished a fire and evacuated hotel residents. And another two entered a burning building to locate and evacuate trapped residents.

Well done, right?

Maybe you disagree.

Maybe you think cops don’t deserve recognition for doing a well-paid job they signed up for.

Maybe you do.

Whatever.

It’s information, people.

Also sometimes called news.

Cop lover, cop hater.

Blah, blah, blah…

mhowell@vancourier.com

@Howellings