Bad cop, bad cop, whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do when they broadcast you?

February 23, 2005 6:48 AM

Bad Cop, No Donut! is a weekly wrap-up of North American police brutality, misconduct and corruption. (mp3 archive.) Unsurprisingly, not everyone is a fan.
posted by stonerose (16 comments total)

Hehe, the first story on that page is:

A man was shot and killed by police Monday after he ignored pepper spray and officers' commands and attacked a state trooper with a chain saw, authorities said. At least 13 bullets struck William Henkle...

posted by smackfu at 7:21 AM on February 23, 2005

I think that's what they call a "good shooting" on the cop shows.
posted by crunchburger at 7:25 AM on February 23, 2005

user name: [e-mail]
pw: bugmenot

for second article
posted by sourbrew at 7:26 AM on February 23, 2005

From second article:

[The program] ends with an invitation from the 38-year-old Anicich to: "Email your comments and story ideas to [e-mail]."

[...]

Anicich said he wasn't sure "why Toronto police would have a problem with [the program]."

Hmmm...why, why, why? Thinking.... Nope, nothing's coming to me.
posted by Turtles all the way down at 7:52 AM on February 23, 2005

No doubt cops dislike being called names. Unfortunately for them, it's a free country. Fantino has in the past had a history of proposing limiting people's free speech in other situations, for example allowing the police to ban nearly any protest it wanted.. He should rid himself of this habit. Chief, what would the police advise me to do if I called 911 to complain that someone called me a name? Get a life, maybe?

Although calling police names doesn't reflect well on the program, its function of bringing to light police abuses is one I support. Police have an awesome power and need oversight. Complaints against police in Toronto are adjudicated by... the Toronto police themselves.

Having said that, if you rev a chainsaw at police officers, and actually injure some of them, are told to stop and pepper-sprayed, and still keep coming, you richly deserve each and every one of the tax-payer-funded bullets with which the police will supply you. Why was that considered an abuse of police power?
posted by kevinsp8 at 8:04 AM on February 23, 2005

Yeah, why should the Toronto police have a problem with this program? After all, The Toronto Police have cleaned house and dealt with the Massive Corruption that led to the dissolution of an entire unit of plainclothes officers and the stepping down of the head of the Police Union, so now the Toronto cops are squeaky clean, right?

Right?
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 8:09 AM on February 23, 2005

Having said that, if you rev a chainsaw at police officers, and actually injure some of them, are told to stop and pepper-sprayed, and still keep coming, you richly deserve each and every one of the tax-payer-funded bullets with which the police will supply you. Why was that considered an abuse of police power?

Because of the number of bullets fired, which tends to ignore that the officers were almost certainly using 9mm pistols which aren't famous for their stopping power. I mean, they'll kill you good enough, but they're probably not going to drop you straight to the ground like you see in the movies. Something that you dearly want when someone is coming at you with a chainsaw.
posted by Cyrano at 8:25 AM on February 23, 2005

It's a fine idea for a radio show. But--

To put it mildly, I'd say the approach—touting yourself as an anarchist (*eyeroll*), naming your program Bad Cop, No Donut! and using [e-mail] as your email address—is going to lead some to believe the show is more about vanity & faux-rebellion than desire for policy change. The progressive activist movement has taken a beating for this same self-perpetuating image problem for 30+ years, despite its earnest intentions. If the activists in question act like snickering children whose parents are on holiday for the weekend, they shouldn't be suprised at the flak they (deliberately) bring upon themselves.

Anicich's approach is a shame since a dignified dialogue about a serious problem would make a fine radio show--one that would, unfortunately, bore the Ché shirt off of Joe College and his collection of BushHitler puppets. Anicich must instead evoke tired images of 'pigs' for his audience to appreciate the edgy subject matter. Maybe Anicich has a background in Marketing? In any case, I was a little surprised he's almost 40 years of age.
posted by jenleigh at 8:33 AM on February 23, 2005

Some police officers are sometimes corrupt, sometimes racist and sometimes try to overstep their authority. Sometimes certain officers even kill people wrongfully. It is excellent to monitor the performance of police departments while remembering that the vast majority of officers do only good in whatever community they serve, if only by virtue of their presence.

At the same time, there are few things as obnoxious as college kids with access to a radio station/newspaper/megaphone, whatever their point of view is. Especially CKLN (Ryerson is probably best known for its radio and television arts programs, and students are substantially involved in the station, even if this producer gentleman is older). In Toronto at least, there is more than enough oversight of the police department, both internal and external, that I can certainly understand TPS resenting an additional source of vitriol from Ryerson kids. The fact that the radio station itself does not belong to the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council and doesn't answer to the CRTC, therefore being subject to no scrutiny makes this show even more grating and inflammatory in my opinion.

Incidentally, in my experience, Ryerson as a university has a population that tends towards the far left, somewhere in the neighbourhood of Marxist-Leninism (as the countless posters on campus advocate). Some professors make Ward Churchill look like a Republican. The complaints against the police here are certainly politically and ideologically based rather than events based, and should be viewed as such.
posted by loquax at 9:09 AM on February 23, 2005

they'll kill you good enough, but they're probably not going to drop you straight to the ground like you see in the movies.

FYI, falling to the ground after you're shot is actually a learned response.
posted by drezdn at 9:19 AM on February 23, 2005

One that you learn soon after you've been shot, drezdn? :3
posted by anthill at 9:34 AM on February 23, 2005

The bugmenot login for the second link is not working anymore. I created a new one:

Email: [e-mail]
Pwd: metafilter
posted by hawkman at 11:08 AM on February 23, 2005

Their style may be annoying clenched black fist on a red background, but someone needs to talk about police brutality in Toronto. It's not just high profile shootings - the police there take homeless teenages down to Cherry Beach to beat them. Out in Saskachewan, they are driving homeless to the edge of the city in the middle of winter, and leaving them there to die. I don't care if this is just a few bad eggs - you don't get away with serving sulfurous omelets in a restaurant just by pointing out that only one in a dozen is bad.
posted by jb at 9:41 PM on February 23, 2005

the police there take homeless teenages down to Cherry Beach to beat them.

Links?
posted by loquax at 6:37 AM on February 24, 2005

The fact that Cherry Beach has seen many a poilce beating is one of the Toronto force's worst kept secrets. The Puka Orchestra song Cherry Beach Express came out over twenty years ago after all. And as a old friend of the DJ in question (haven't seen him in a few years), I can attest that he is not a "college-kid", nor is he new to annoying people via his radio show(s). There's actually a big street-party celebration being organized to celebrate Fantino's departure from the force. What does that tell you?
posted by stinkycheese at 12:17 PM on February 25, 2005

I'm sorry, I have no links, though it looks like stinkycheese found very good ones. I was told about this by a teenager at my school who had homeless friends taken there, may have been taken there herself (she didn't disclose that much). She had no reason to lie about it to me (I was just another teenager, a highschool student - she was just explaining what someone else meant when they mentioned it), or to be so specific - I'd never heard of Cherry Beach before, not being from the east end.
posted by jb at 6:59 PM on March 13, 2005