“Not spin doctors,” says RCMP spokesman
Former RCMP spokesman Sgt. Pierre Lemaitre told a public inquiry he did “absolutely not” intentionally give the media inaccurate information following Robert Dziekanski’s death…
Former RCMP spokesman Sgt. Pierre Lemaitre told a public inquiry he did
“absolutely not” intentionally give the media inaccurate information
following the Oct. 2007 death of Robert Dziekanski.
The Polish
immigrant died at the Vancouver International Airport after police
stunned him with a Taser five times; he fell the first time. The The
RCMP initially told reporters that Dziekanski did not respond to the
first shock, and two shocks were applied.
A video taken by
chance by a bystander — released a month after the death, when the
police who seized it relinquished it — contradicted not only
Lemaitre’s media statements, but many other statements in various
contexts by all four of the officers at the scene as well as the media
spokesmen.
The Vancouver Sun quoted Lemaitre telling the Braidwood Inquiry, “Contrary to popular belief, we are not spin doctors.”
I’ve
interviewed a lot of dedicated and professional police officers who are
decidedly not “spin doctors.” This case, sadly, has the power to
tarnish the public reputation of them all. It could also to shred what
little trust remains between credible journalists and the RCMP,
especially in British Columbia where relations are rocky at best.
