Cops aren't bad, they're just trained that way

>> A Nicolet graduate takes aim at police brutality

by PHILIP PREVILLE

When she was a kid, Gabriella Pedicelli was afraid of police officers. The uniform, the holster and the burly, stern-looking men gave her the creeps. But as is often the case with authority figures, she admired it as much as she feared it, and decided she wanted to be a cop herself.

"I figured I'd try to be a good cop," Pedicelli recalls. She enrolled in the policing program at John Abbott, then completed her training at Nicolet in 1989. By the time she graduated, she didn't want to be a cop anymore. "It was all about catching the bad guy, firearms and high-speed chases--not about helping communities solve their problems," she recalls. "I became disillusioned. It was clear that, if I tried to do things differently, I wouldn't be able to function."

But she continued to pursue her interest in police work. She completed a Master's Degree in Criminology at the University of Ottawa, and transformed her thesis into a book, published late last year, entitled When Police Kill: Police Use of Force in Montreal and Toronto (Véhicule Press, $17.95).

The book is a stinging indictment of both police forces, recounting many high-profile police killings of the last 15 years. But what's most provocative--and contentious--about the book is Pedicelli's belief that brutal police behaviour isn't unusual, but perfectly predictable and even normal.

"When I talk to people about police brutality, they always say, 'Oh, you're just talking about a few bad apples,'" explains Pedicelli, who now works with a youth organization in Park Extension. "My response is: no, I'm not. All cops are bad."

Is she serious? "When a cop kills someone, they all support each other," she says. "They never, ever admit that any police officer has ever acted improperly." She notes that Alan Gosset, the officer responsible for the 1987 Anthony Griffin shooting, was fired by then-police chief Roland Bourget; the police brotherhood fought for Gosset's reinstatement and won, while Bourget lost control of his officers and was forced to step down. "The brotherhood controls everything," she says. "When I called and asked for a list of people who had been killed by police, they claimed no such list existed."

Clearly, Pedicelli is on her own ideological crusade against cops. She says someone has to do it. "People need to support victims of police brutality and their families," she insists. "They're up against a huge organization, and need all the help they can get."

Gabriella Pedicelli will be speaking at the "Bad Cop, No Doughnut" forum on police brutality Thursday, March 11 (today) at 7:30pm in room 321 of McGill's Leacock Building. To mark the International Day Against Police Brutality, a demonstration will be held on Monday, March 15 in Berri Square beginning at 4pm. All are welcome.