Did you know that an individual MUC Police officer can give your personal belongings to another person or persons without your consent, without any court procedure, without any legal procedure, without any documentation, without any warning and without an investigation?

That is exactly what happened to me. One of the two police officers who came to my "rescue" turned over my life's possessions to my assailant and I was forbidden to retrieve them. The policeman "helped" me out the door and told me - in the presence of my assailant - that I could not take any of my belongings from the house where I had lived with my aged parents for two years. I was not even allowed to take a coat - only my purse, my bible and a shoe bag. Already widowed and recovering from breast cancer,
I was made homeless and destitute by this police action.

I am a Montrealer, a widow, 65 hard-earned years of age. I am the editor of Victims' Voices, an independent, non-profit newsletter dedicated to victims' rights. The following includes the May, 2001 issue of Victims' Voices entitled, "I Have Been a Coward" and a brief background of this matter. Please take a few moments to read these two short items. I believe you will find them worth your attention. I am asking you to take notice of what happens to an ordinary citizen when she becomes a crime victim in Quebec.

MONTREAL POLICE POWERS DEVASTATING!

If you are ever the victim of a crime, you may want to think twice before calling for police assistance. In October, 1996, I was suddenly attacked in my home and I called 911 for help to escape the violence.

Did you know that an individual MUC Police officer can give your personal belongings to another person or persons without your consent, without any court procedure, without any legal procedure, without any documentation, without any warning and without an investigation?

That is exactly what happened to me. One of the two police officers who came to my "rescue" turned over my life's possessions to my assailant and I was forbidden to retrieve them. The policeman "helped" me out the door and told me - in the presence of my assailant - that I could not take any of my belongings from the house where I had lived with my aged parents for two years. I was not even allowed to take a coat - only my purse, my bible and a shoe bag. Already widowed and recovering from breast cancer,
I was made homeless and destitute by this police action.

For the next five months, MUC Police repeatedly refused to file a report of the crime. The insurance adjuster told me that because of the failure of the police to file a report on time, my insurance company would not carry out any investigation and was washing its hands of all responsibility.

I had identified my assailant and the thief to the police immediately. There is no doubt in this matter. I had made a careful, detailed inventory of all my belongings on the premises two days before I was attacked, because I knew trouble was coming when my teenage niece and her boyfriend suddenly moved in with us at the beginning of October. Within one week of their arrival, I was attacked, and within a half hour, because of that MUC Police Officer, I was wiped out. My niece had the fruit of my life's work. I was helpless.

I gave the police detailed descriptions of every item that was stolen, as well as insurance documents, receipts, photographs, certificates and much more. But it was not until the Summer of the Year 2000 that the MUC Police finally conducted a professional-looking, but very brief investigation.My assailant refused the detectives access to the crime scene.
The thief refused to take a lie detector test. The MUC Police closed the case.

FOR SOME REASON THIS CRIME IS UNTOUCHABLE.

I appealed to Quebec's Police Ethics Commissioner, M. Denis Racicot. I received a letter from his advocate, M. Paul Monty, in which he "explains" everything simply:

The MUC Police have " large powers and vast autonomy".

To Do What ? Help Criminals?

Phyllis Carter
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Victims' Voices
An independent, non-profit newsletter dedicated to victims' rights
Copyright: Phyllis Carter, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, September 15, 2000
P.O. Box 312, Succ. NDG, Montreal, Quebec, H4A 3P6
May, 2001 issue

I HAVE BEEN A COWARD

I started publishing Victims' Voices in September,2000, after trying everything I could think of to get the MUC Police to take action and recover my belongings which were stolen by my teenage niece, DN. in 1996. Through Victims' Voices, I am publicizing my story and my observations about other injustices - particularly those that affect people in the Montreal area - as well as the stories other people tell me. My purpose is to focus attention on injustices in our so-called Justice System. Stop telling victims to forgive and forget ! We deserve justice. So I encourage silent victims to speak up.

But I have been afraid to tell one aspect of my own story. I have kept quiet about the events of May 23, 1998, when an MUC Police Officer with some personal problems of his own took action to intimidate me, to humiliate me and to destroy my credibility. I have been afraid to publicize this part of my story because I was afraid that people would believe exactly what that policeman hoped people would believe. I have kept this part of my story quiet - except for my repeated appeals to the Police Ethics Commissioner. But Me.Denis Racicot and his lawyer, Me. Paul Monty refuse to act. I suddenly realized that my silence is exactly what these officers of the law have wanted all along. So here is the truth for all the world to see:

A Montreal Police Officer sent me to hospital for "thirty-days' mental evaluation".

This is what happened: On May 23, 1998, I was walking in the vicinity of the thief's house. My purpose for being there was to draw attention to the robbery.. After appealing for help to the police and many other authorities for two years, I felt I had run out of options. When every reasonable effort had failed,

I decided that PEACEFUL PROTEST was all I had left

It was late afternoon. I was walking along the street by the curb across from DN's house. I was not on private property. I was not impeding anyone's movements. I was not blocking traffic. I did not approach any vehicle, dwelling or person. I was not making any sound. I was not threatening anyone in any way. I wore posters saying why I was there. I walked slowly along the street, praying silently for protection and for justice. I prayed that someone in authority or perhaps the media would hear about me and would care enough to help my case. I carried a wooden cross -because it was my Christianity that had made me an easy target for my niece. DN. knew that my mother felt terrible about my conversion and she used that to turn my mother against me and set me up for the robbery.

As I walked along the curb, an MUC police car came up from my right, did a 180 degree turn and screeched to a halt immediately in front of me. I stood absolutely still, facing the officer as he jumped out of his car. Red-faced, he demanded "What's going on here!" I explained. The officer ordered me to leave the area immediately. I laid down my cross carefully on the lawn beside me to avert any concern on the part of the nervous policeman.

I WOULD NOT OBEY
I told the officer that I would not leave because "I believe we have a right to peaceful protest in this country." I said that, if he believed I was doing something illegal, I was ready to submit to arrest and an opportunity to have my case heard in court. He just glared at me. He was so edgy. He paced back and forth in front of me making offensive, aggressive comments each time he passed close to me. "You're no goddamn Christian! I'm a Christian! You're no goddamn Christian!" I offered to remove my placards to assure him that I had nothing hidden. He burst out, " No! No! You wear them! You wear them!" (Yes, he did repeat himself that way.) Then he said that, where I was going, I would be searched. The tone of his statement conveyed "body search" - and my heart started pounding, but I wouldn't let him see my fear. I took a deep breath and prayed.
A second police car arrived with two young officers. One of them was in the process of putting on rubber gloves as he approached. I was surprised! I'm a widow in my 60's, not a thug. I said, "Don't worry. I'm a Jew and a Christian." I spoke spontaneously to reassure the young officer that I was not aggressive. I had no way of foreseeing how my benign statement would be misinterpreted. The first officer exploded ! "My brother died of AIDS!" he raged. "Now I'm going to take care of you ! I'm not going to arrest you ! I'm going to send you to the hospital for thirty-days' mental evaluation !"
I did nothing to oppose him. In fact I apologized to him quietly. I felt sorry that he had lost his brother. I had not intended to infer anything about people suffering from AIDS. I had only intended to assure the young officer that he had no reason to fear me. All this did nothing to calm the angry policeman. His manner, from the moment he arrived on the scene, was like that of a raging bull desperate to break out of his stall. A man and woman stopped their bikes and also tried to calm him and reason with him, but he raged on. Through all of this unique experience in my life, I conducted myself with gentleness and dignity. Under fire, I hung on tight to God, and hope.
The angry policeman called for an ambulance - an ambulance that might have been needed to carry a sick person to hospital. When it arrived, I asked the officer if I might move my car off the street to the home of a friend who lived close by. If I was to be hospitalized for thirty days, my car would surely be towed away. "You're not going to move your car!" he snarled. "I'm going to have it towed to the pound and it's going to cost you sixteen dollars a day!" I didn't say a word. I submitted.
I stepped up into the ambulance and I was taken to hospital. It was a long drive. By the time I was seen, it was about midnight. Since my car was many miles away, I had no way to get home. In the morning, a psychiatrist noticed me in passing. He stopped what he was doing and looked at me. "What are you doing here?" he asked. I wondered if he was someone I knew. As it turned out, he was just expressing surprise to see me there. He saw at a glance that I didn't belong there. I told him what had happened and he sent me home.
I reported all this to the Police Ethics Commissioner, Maitre Denis Racicot, but he has refused to act on any part of my case. I advised him that the officer who was so enraged at me has the potential to do serious harm to anyone who might be less docile, but the Commissioner has closed the file, and his ears - and his eyes.
Through all of this, since 1996, all my requests for police reports have been ignored.
PERSPECTIVE
There is a another aspect to this story that is quite an eye-opener. I had attended a seminar in a Chinese church in downtown Montreal, earlier in the day that I was arrested: That is the correct term, because I was stopped by the police - from doing something that I believe is a human right. The keynote speaker was a Chinese missionary. During her presentation she reported that, in China, people are no longer sent to mental institutions for being dissidents. Ironically, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, that very same day, a woman was sent to a mental hospital for committing a peaceful protest.
Phyllis Carter
As a journalist, I am accustomed to gathering information and recording it in careful detail. Thus I am able to report accurately and precisely. What chance does a victim have who does not have such an advantage? Victims' Voices does not require contributors to demonstrate literary skills. Just write and tell the truth. Victims' Voices welcomes letters from individual police officers.
Do you have a story to tell ? Are you a victim of police wrong-doing? Write to Victims Voices at P.O. Box 312, Succ. NDG, Montreal, Quebec, H4A 3P6. Include your telephone number for verification, but DO NOT mention the name of anyone you suspect of committing a crime. Keep that information for the police. ( I still believe.)
Read Victims' Voices: Case # ll - Access to Hospitals - An Obstacles Course. Coming Soon in Victims'Voices: Bigotry Impedes Montreal Police

VICTIMS' VOICES NOW ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB
at various sites including the international newswires' source: INDYMEDIA.
See the the May, 2001 issue of VICTIMS' VOICES at: http://www.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=38177