The Barrie Police Association has publicly aired its concerns about a tweet made eight months ago by downtown city councillor Keenan Aylwin in response to Olando Brown's death while in police custody.
On June 23, 2018, four months before he was elected to represent Ward 2, Aylwin retweeted a local news report on the 32-year-old Barrie man's death with the comment: “This is incredibly disturbing, but not surprising. #Barrie.”
Fast-forward to Feb. 14, a day after the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) cleared Barrie police officers of any wrongdoing in the choking death of Mr. Brown, the Barrie Police Association retweeted Aylwin's original tweet with the comment: “You tweeted this inflammatory tweet. Now that the facts are available, our members would like to know what you meant. Our members fully accept they are held accountable and to a higher standard. We expect the same from notable members of our community. #Barrie @PoliceAssocON”
On June 22, 2018, Barrie police made headline news after a video surfaced of Brown's arrest at the Five Points in downtown Barrie showing Brown being tasered several times. Brown died about two hours after his arrest and the SIU was brought in because the death happened while he was in custody.
On Feb. 13, 2019, the SIU announced its findings which determined that Brown had choked on two drug-filled baggies he tried to swallow during a strip search at police headquarters after removing them from his rectal area. Officers attempted to save his life and paramedics were summoned, but Brown was pronounced dead at hospital a short time later.
Aylwin declined an interview with BarrieToday about the situation, but responded to the police union's tweet from Feb. 14 with a statement of his own, which did not back down from his original comments.
“My condolences go out to the family and friends of Olando Brown for the loss they have endured and the lack of closure they have experienced over the past 7 months. This is a tragedy," Aylwin's statement read. "The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) process needs to be improved so that a harmful delay in information provided to grieving family, friends, and the community does not occur.
"I can't even begin to comprehend the trauma that everyone involved, including the officers present, experienced during this tragic event," he added in the statement.
Aylwin said the matter is not about individual officers or the police department.
"This is about a justice system that is in need of repair," his statement reads. "This is about a system that fails people with mental illness, people experiencing drug addiction, people living in poverty and people in other vulnerable situations. This is about a system that disproportionately affects people of colour and indigenous peoples."
Aywlin said more needs to be done.
"I am disturbed by the unnecessary loss of human life. I’m not surprised that our flawed justice system is continuing to fail people," his statement reads. "I’m not surprised that a system that fails to address the root causes of crime has produced another tragic outcome. This system doesn't adequately serve victims of crime, police officers or a goal of rehabilitation."
In Canada, the councillor said almost $2 billion more was spent on the criminal justice system than on mental health care every year.
"We can do better," Aylwin said. "I am committed to fighting for transformational justice and a compassionate approach that shifts from punitive and carceral measures to an approach that prevents crime in the first place by truly caring for people's needs. We must continue to work together for true justice so that we will see a day when this can never happen again.”
Barrie Police Association president Tom Sinclair was quick to react to Aylwin's stance.
“Mr. Aylwin tweeted a lengthy, crafted reply talking in circles and blaming everyone and every organization and taking no ownership of his own views," Sinclair said in a statement of his own provided to BarrieToday. "The comments are not fooling anyone. This latest response was a tweet about a flawed justice system (and) the SIU, which was nothing short of an excuse and political rhetoric.”
In a followup interview with BarrieToday, Sinclair said he doesn’t believe Aylwin's tweet from last June reflects his recent statement, and says the tweet incited mixed feelings in the community.
“The response was laughable and should be apologized for outright,” Sinclair said. “Mr. Aylwin was not a councillor at the time, but was certainly a prominent public figure, having just been through a provincial election representing the Green Party, so he was in the public eye and had a responsibility.
"His tweet was well seen and was based on zero facts, which only led to more people being upset and, in some cases, making threats to officers and their families," Sinclair added. "That was frustrating to see, especially knowing that our officers tried to save Mr. Brown’s life.”
While Sinclair said the media has to report on the incident, he said he also understands the frustration that media and public must have had when the police weren’t speaking on the issue, which is common practice in cases involving the SIU.
Sinclair admits that can be frustrating for the police at times, too.
“In no way are we saying not to report the news; that is needed, certainly,” he said. “But we had to sit there and watch as the news led off with a sign in the background that read 'taser death'. There was never any proof of a taser death and it was irresponsible to have an image like that, which really started the general public into believing that is how Mr. Brown died when, in fact, we know differently.
"I completely understand how frustrating it is for media to not have us speaking when asked questions, but when the SIU has a process that orders us not to, we have to remain silent even when we don’t want to," he added. "Trust me, there were several times when we wanted to just say out loud exactly what happened and just how our officers tried to save a man’s life.”
When asked if he thinks like this is one of the most divisive times he has seen between police and community, Sinclair told BarrieToday he actually feels the opposite.
“This is not an all-time high, by any means, and the early to mid-'90s was much more divisive,” Sinclair said. “What I do feel is happening is a spill-over effect from incidents that happen south of the border and create tensions here at home in Barrie.
"We are very appreciative of our community and I feel the old saying of 'the silent majority is very supportive of us' applies to the Barrie police," Sinclair added.
