Could the tide be turning, or is this simply a pair of toothpicks raised against a flood?

In Toronto, two uniformed goons, Edward Ing and John Cruz, set upon an admittedly mouthy disabled man, breaking several ribs and opening up a large cut on his scalp. “His injuries are consistent with being struck constantly,” said Justice Elliott Allen, finding them both guilty of assault causing bodily harm.

The officers’ excuse? They thought he was drunk, as though that would have made it all OK. He was charged with being drunk in a public place, in fact, but no alcohol was found in the victim’s system after he was taken to hospital, and the charge was earlier thrown out of court.

Naturally the Toronto Police Association is already circling the wagons:

“It’s unfortunate with the decision that was made by the judge, the Toronto Police Association fully supports our officers and an appeal will be taken up,” said George Cowley, a lawyer at the Toronto Police Association.

In Montreal, as some readers may remember, a woman wearing a Palestinian-type scarf was sitting on a bench in the wee hours, with a bag of belongings beside her. This was sufficient cause for two boeufs, constables Michael McIntyre and Sébastien Champoux, to set upon her, handcuff her roughly enough to cause her to shout in pain, drag her off to the police station, issue tickets totalling $1040 (for “improper use of a bench” and the aforesaid shouting), and send her on her way, after throwing her stuff against a wall.

The City of Montreal eventually wrote to her to tell her that the fines had been quashed. And now the Quebec Police Ethics Commission has ordered a hearing:

After investigating Asmar’s complaint, a Quebec police ethics commissioner has ordered the officers to appear before the police ethics committee, which acts as a tribunal to ensure that the Quebec police code of ethics is upheld.

McIntyre and Champoux were cited for use of illegal force and for “failing to respect the authority of the law … by arresting, searching and detaining the complainant.”

Neither of these stories are over, of course. We have yet to see what penalties the system will impose to protect citizens from these “protectors.” Too often the result of these proceedings is a wrist slap of the “go and sin no more” variety. But stay tuned.

[H/t this on that]