RCMP making ’scapegoat’ of B.C. officer

(CBC News) – The B.C. police officer charged with assault for kicking a man in the face is being made a scapegoat for mistakes made by the RCMP, the officer’s lawyer says.

Const. Geoff Mantler has pleaded not guilty to the assault on Buddy Tavares, who Mantler kicked when Tavares was on all fours after an arrest in Kelowna in January.

Mantler also pleaded not guilty to the assault of another man during a separate arrest.

Mantler’s lawyer, Neville McDougall, said Tuesday the officer has been “thrown under the bus” by higher echelons of the RCMP to protect the image of the force.

“It’s unfortunate — and quite frankly I expect more from people of the rank of superintendent and deputy commissioner — to look at a 30- to 45-second video and take that as being the complete story,” McDougall said outside court.

McDougall was referring to an online video of Mantler kicking Tavares that went viral after the incident.

“There’s been no discussion as to what supervision was being provided to these junior members. No NCOs were responding to this call for no apparent reason no sergeant, no staff sergeant.”

Mantler has been suspended from the RCMP without pay, a move which McDougall said he also might challenge in federal court.

“Geoff Mantler was thrown under the bus,” McDougall said, “based on public perception and to try to maintain the integrity of the RCMP as a unit, as opposed to what he was acting on that day.”

The most senior member on the scene had just over three years experience — an issue that also forms part of a lawsuit that Tavares has filed against the RCMP.

Tavares is claiming negligence because the officers involved in his arrest were not adequately supervised or instructed.

Dates have yet to be set in the assault trial.

4 Comments

Categories: Excessive use of Force, Mounties Breaking The Law, Mounties Charged, Mounties Sued.

By RCMP Watch

— 2011.07.13 at 19:51

Comment Feed

4 Responses

Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
First off, I never said “the RCMP threw Mantler under the Bus”. I said “The force does throw members under the bus. No argument there.” This was my agreement with sickntired. He was the one who brought the subject up- not I. You deliberately twisted my statement out of context. This is very clearly written below for all to see. Your prejudices are showing through here.

Secondly, I have heard Deepthroat make reference and disapproval to how the force habitually charges members with weak evidence that would never get to court if it were a member of the general public just to clear the force of any perceived bias. How is my quotation any different than some the arguments he has made?

For the record the force did the right thing in THIS case… But, how they often treat their own members across the board is far from stellar. My discussion about training was in response to Mantler’s lame argument that lack of supervision contributed to the wrong decisions he made. My point was that if the people on the lowest rung of the Totem Pole know better than to do this, you don’t have to be a SGT to know what he did was wrong. Don’t read too much into it.

Poorly-rated. Do you Like or Dislike: 5 15

JohnnyG — 2011.07.16 @ 21:28 —
I do not see the RCMP management as throwing Mantler under the bus. Your prejudices are showing through here. Mantler threw himself under the bus with his actions. Just what do you expect from management? They issued an apology, which is proper, investigated the actions and recommended charges which are also proper. If they raise any semblance of sympathy or explanation for his unacceptable actions you would be accusing them of cover up and conspiracy. You already claim: “…there’s no question that public perception is the only thinb (SIC) that’s concerning them here. To my mind there is nothing wrong with the actions taken. it will have the effect of either helping or hindering with the public image of the organization which is a byproduct of any action. Its interpretation can be positive or in your cases negative.

He was given the same training as thousands of others yet he chose, yes HE chose, to act in such a manner. He has been investigated and charged and is facing a court. The lawyer is doing what all lawyers do these days trying to redirect the blame for individual actions onto some other person or entity. Are you really surprised by this?

Well-liked. Do you Like or Dislike: 17 5

Deepthroat — 2011.07.14 @ 16:42 —
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Good points sickntired. The force does throw members under the bus. No argument there.

Regarding the lame supervision arguments, I would be curious if a cadet at Depot has ever kicked a prone subject during a scenario based arrest? I am willing to bet NOT. I am also willing to bet Mantler never even considered doing it there either….. So if every cadet that has ever gone through Depot knows better, than shouldn’t he?

Poorly-rated. Do you Like or Dislike: 9 16

JohnnyG — 2011.07.14 @ 14:32 —
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
I can certainly say from experience that RCMP management can and does throw members under the bus to protect themselves and whatever is left of the RCMP’s image and there’s no question that public perception is the only thinb that’s concerning them here. However the only thing I’ve seen in the press that could possibly support Mr. McDougall’s assertion would be RCMP management’s apology to Mr. Tavares which suggested that they at least felt him to be guilty without benefit of trial. But I don’t see how Mr. McDougall’s theory excuses in any way Cst. Mantler’s kicking of Mr. Tavares.

There’s also no question that RCMP investigators did more than view the video and I’m comfortably certain that Mr. McDougall has documents showing that they interviewed Mr. Tavares and other witnesses (all of which, from my understanding, supported what the video shows). So clearly the video isn’t the whole story and hasn’t been presented as such despite Mr. McDougall’s claims to the contrary.

As for supervision: at 3 years service does Cst. Mantler really need someone more senior to tell him that its wrong to kick someone who is following his instructions and not resisting in any way? Really?? Does he really need a S/Sgt on the scene to make sure he doesn’t assault people?

If there’s any beef against RCMP management here it might be that they either failed to identify a performance issue with Cst. Mantler (see his previous assault complaint) or did identify it and failed to do anything. That is something that Mr. Tavares lawyers should be looking into. As for Mr. McDougall – well, he’s only doing his job, I guess. Lets hope he’s billing Cst. Mantler a lot.

Poorly-rated. Do you Like or Dislike: 10 18

sickntired — 2011.07.13 @ 23:10 —