If I had to pick my three favourite stand-up comedians right now they would be the sainted Bill Hicks (although Hicks, if he were still alive, would likely scream at me for five minutes for calling him that), followed by Patton Oswalt and Chris Rock. It was Rock I was thinking about today and, in particular, a bit he did on OJ Simpson years ago.
It's a masterful five and a half minute routine and I recommend tracking it down and giving it a listen. It's one of those things you really shouldn't be laughing at, but find yourself doing it anyway. The pay-off is when Rock points out that OJ's ex-wife was getting huge alimony, with her boyfriend driving around in his Ferrari, and fucking her in his house. The punchline? "I'm not saying he should have killed her.....but I understand."
Cue big laughs.
I kind of thought of that when I was reading this story on Nunatsiaq News. The paper, by the way, has been doing some really good stories lately, so I tip my hat to them. Anyway, the story is about RCMP Const. Kipanek Eegeesiak, who plead guilty to two cases of assaulting prisoners. At first blush, that sounds very, very bad. But when you read the story and you hear his reasons for why he did it, well, Rock's words came back to me. "I'm not saying he should have beat them....but I understand."
One of the guys was a repeat sex offender that had broken into the constable's grandmother's house several times. The other guy was the common-law husband of a cousin who had beaten her in the past.
There is some merit to the argument that he never should have been policing in Iqaluit, given the volume of family he has in town and that he was so widely known. There's a reason why so many RCMP officers in small communities tend to stick with other officers or a very tight circle of people...you never know when you're going to get the call to go and arrest somebody you're friends with, or even related to.
Ordinarily I'd be inclined to say he should be tossed and that's that. However, it sounds like he's a good cop who just did something stupid...something anyone of us would have been tempted to do if in his situation. My inclination would be to move him to another community and keep him on a very, very short rope. That might upset some people, but I find myself not really caring all that much if the people upset are repeat sex offenders and men who beat women.
But that's just me...
Last Five
1. Out of my hands - The Donnas
2. The pearl - The Trews
3. Babydoll - The Fratellis
4. Maggie's farm - Bob Dylan
5. Napoleon sheds his skin (live) - Red Rider
3 comments:
WOW! two posts in a row that are I-town focused, I applaud you for that, risky as it may be.
I remember Kip the night of his 19th birthday and when he was leaving for Depot. I agree that it is a hard decision to put members back in their small communities. We can only hope lessons are learned by this before more good members see their careers endangered.
I'm with you on both your "I-town" posts.
I've been folowing this story with some interest and only held off posting about it on my Nunavut blog since I knew the guy from when I was up in Arcitc Bay and a lot of locals knew about my blog of course. I have a hard time reconciling the news story with what I know about the guy. Kip is a nice guy and I"ve certainly come to understand the stresses RCMP are under in such small communities. It's something I think many people don't understand. At any rate, I'll just say that Kip is still young so I hope whatever works out he learns a lesson and can move forward from here.
Post a Comment