'Above the Law' explores one man's story about police anti-Black racism
SOURCE: rabble.ca, 2020-07-08
Story, further below.
"Above the Law" examines a deeply troubled police department and reveals the devastating consequences of unchecked police violence. Despite its relatively low crime rates, recent years have seen the Calgary Police Service shoot and kill disproportionately high numbers of people, more than either the New York or Chicago police departments in 2018. The film unravels the intertwined stories of three individuals who were the victims of severe violence at the hands of police officers. From the kidnapping and beating of a young immigrant from Ghana, to the fatal shooting of an unarmed man during a "wellness check", the film exposes a criminal justice system that fails to hold police officers accountable for their actions.
[Source | see also (CBC.ca)]
In 2013, Godfred Addai-Nyamekye suffered a vicious attack at the hands of Constable Trevor Lindsay, a member of the Calgary Police Service, in a case of apparent racial profiling and unlawful detention. Despite Addai-Nyamekye's formal complaint, Lindsay remained on duty, and in 2015, violently assaulted a handcuffed man, Daniel Haworth, causing him traumatic brain injuries. Seven years later, Lindsay has yet to be charged in the assault of Nyamekye. A third incident, also in 2015, involves a wellness check that turned deadly for 27-year-old Anthony Heffernan, an unarmed man, in his hotel room, after being shot multiple times, including three times in the head and neck, and Alberta's top prosecutor stating that no charges would be laid.
Alarmingly, the Calgary Police Service (CPS) was involved in more shooting deaths in 2018 than each of the Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Chicago, and New York police departments in the same year. Canadians need to ask themselves why this is the case, especially in a time of mounting calls to defund the police nation-wide as public outrage over systemic racism and police brutality mobilizes citizens around the world.
Host David Peck talks to Godfred Addai-Nyamekye and Marc Serpa Francoeur about their new film "Above the Law," wellness checks and reform, choice and accountability in law enforcement, impunity and optimism and the importance of having a platform and sharing your voice.
"Above The Law," an urgent and timely documentary, exposes instances of excessive and lethal force and a disturbing lack of police accountability right here in Canada. It can be seen on CBC Docs POV and CBC Gem.
And learn more about Lost Time's work here.
About today's guests:
Godfred Addai-Nyamekye is 32 years of age and was born and raised in Ghana. He immigrated to Canada in 2006 in hopes of a better life. Life was going great, as planned -- he was healthy, happy, very energetic and active -- until December 28, 2013, when he had a run-in with the police and his life changed forever. He was 23 years old at the time of the attack.
Marc Serpa Francoeur is co-founder of Lost Time Media and is originally from Calgary, and studied screenwriting, language, and creative non-fiction in Vancouver. After several years in Nicaragua, he returned to Canada to complete an MFA in documentary media with a focus on interactive storytelling. His current work includes projects in Portugal, Latin America and Canada.
Above the Law
Calgary residents say police brutality tore their lives apart -- and the justice system has failed to hold officers accountable
SOURCE: cbc.ca, airs 2020-07-11
Above the Law: Trevor Lindsay. Although Addai-Nyamekye filed a formal complaint with the Calgary Police Service, the officers involved remained on duty and Const. Trevor Lindsay went on to be charged with aggravated assault in the May 2015 arrest of Daniel Haworth, the son of a former Calgary police officer.
[Source]
[2020-07-10] Discussion. Godfred Addai is one of the subjects in a new CBC Doc "Above The Law" exposing Calgary Police. Above the Law explores three cases of excessive force involving the Calgary Police Service which in recent years has had the highest number of officer involved deaths in the country.
[Source]
Canadians entrust police officers with an enormous amount of power, including the authority to detain a person and use force against them if necessary. But are officers being held to account if they abuse their power? That's one of the fundamental questions posed by Calgary-born-and-raised filmmakers Marc Serpa Francoeur and Robinder Uppal in "Above the Law," an eye-opening investigation into accountability, or lack thereof, in the Calgary Police Service.
Five years in the making, the film unravels the intertwined stories of three individuals who appear to have been the subjects of excessive force at the hands of Calgary police officers.
Godfred Addai-Nyamekye, a 26-year-old student and immigrant from Ghana, says he had his life upended one frigid night in the winter of 2013 when the car he was driving slid off the road and got stuck in the snow. Two police officers arrived on the scene, put him in their vehicle and drove him in the opposite direction of his home. According to court documents, the officers allege Addai-Nyamekye had become aggressive, which he denies.
When the officers left him at a desolate construction site, it was -28 C with the windchill, and Addai-Nyamekye was dressed in only a tracksuit and sneakers. Panicking, he called 911 for help. After nearly 15 minutes, an entirely different officer, Const. Trevor Lindsay, arrived on the scene.
"This is where he almost ended my life," says Addai-Nyamekye in the film, returning to the site where he was tasered and beaten. Following the incident, Addai-Nyamekye was charged with having assaulted Const. Lindsay.
Although Addai-Nyamekye filed a formal complaint with the Calgary Police Service about how he was treated, the officers involved remained on duty. Const. Lindsay went on to be charged with aggravated assault in the May 2015 arrest of Daniel Haworth, the son of a former Calgary police officer. Haworth, who was suspected of theft, was handcuffed at the time of the incident, which left him with a fractured skull and traumatic brain injury.
"Growing up as a kid with my dad as a cop, they were my heroes," says Robert Haworth, Daniel's brother. "I couldn't believe that someone would be handled so aggressively when they were in handcuffs. No one deserves to have that done to them."
In March of that same year, Anthony Heffernan, a 27-year-old electrician, was fatally shot in his hotel room by one of five Calgary Police Service officers who had been called to check on his well-being. Some of the officers say Heffernan appeared to be in a drug-induced state, refused to drop a lighter and syringe, and moved toward them. But the Heffernan family continues to seek justice for Anthony's death, which they say is a clear-cut case of excessive force.
"We do not have a just society if police can come to a wellness check, kick in a door and shoot an unarmed man four times," says his father Patrick Heffernan, a retired high school principal from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.
Unfortunately, Heffernan's death is not an isolated occurrence. Recent years have seen Calgary lead the country in police shootings. In 2018, Calgary police officers were responsible for five fatal shootings -- more than the Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, Winnipeg and Edmonton police combined, and more than either the New York or Chicago police departments. Despite this, Alberta's police watchdog, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team, has never charged a Calgary police officer in a fatal shooting.
Featuring disturbing video evidence and powerful interviews with current and former Calgary police chiefs, lawyers, families and a survivor of alleged police brutality, "Above the Law" raises serious questions about the way the Calgary Police Service handles complaints, the reliability of Alberta's police oversight mechanisms and the willingness of Crown prosecutors in Alberta to bring charges against police officers.
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