School Directors Turned Snitch, Cop Turned Fascists
Another scary example of the negative effects of the snitch culture and a clear illustration of the type of over-reach that most school system are getting away with all across America these days. This case of collectivist lunacy comes from Canada this time, a Kitchener father said he was angry at the police after he was arrested at his child’s school and later strip-searched and thrown in a cell at the police station, because his 4-year-old daughter drew a picture of a gun in class. “I’m picking up my kids and then, next thing you know, I’m locked up, I was in shock. This is completely insane.” [1] Imagine that, the child makes a drawing, an over-sensitive dumbed-down teacher interpret that drawing, build a scenario in his head, call the police and get you locked up. This is basically what happened to Jessie Sansone, 26, from Kitchener Ontario, Canada. Even if there are questions to be answered about the way the whole thing was handled, the school principal, police and child welfare officials, however, all stand by their actions. They say they had to investigate to determine whether there was a gun in Sansone’s house that children had access to. “From a public safety point of view, any child drawing a picture of guns and saying there’s guns in a home would warrant some further conversation with the parents and child,” said Alison Scott, executive director of Family and Children’s Services. [2] Waterloo Regional Police Insp. Kevin Thaler said there was a complaint from Forest Hills Public School that “a firearm was in a residence and children had access to it. We had every concern, based on this information, that children were in danger.” [3] Sansone said he went to pick up his three children on Wednesday and was summoned to the principal’s office, where three police officers were waiting for him. Without any knid of proofs, they said he was being charged with possession of a firearm. He was then escorted from the school, handcuffed and put in a cruiser. At the same time, other officers went to his home, where his wife and 15-month-old child were waiting for him. They made his wife come to the police station while the other three children were taken to Family and Children’s Services to be interviewed. At the police station, Sansone was forced to remove his clothes for a full strip search. Several hours later, a detective apologized and said he was being released with no charges, Sansone said. The detective told him his daughter Neaveh had drawn a picture of a man holding a gun. When a teacher asked her who the man was, the girl replied, “That’s my daddy’s. He uses it to shoot bad guys and monsters.” [4] After he was released, Sansone was asked to sign a paper authorizing a search of his home. He signed, even though he didn’t have to, he said. The school principal, Steve Zack, said a staff member called child welfare officials because the law requires them to report anything involving the safety or neglect of a child. [5]
The story received international attention, and the Waterloo Regional Police have reportedly been flooded with complaints about their treatment of an innocent man. Chief Matt Torigian has ordered an investigation, but wants to be very clear that this was a child safety issue, not a gun issue. Except that the chief, in an interview with local media, brought up the gun issue twice himself, saying, “There’s no disputing the fact that in this case, Mr. Sansone was arrested and detained because the officers believed he may have been in possession of a firearm” and “In the early stages, [Sansone] was suspected of being involved in weapons.’ [5a] Whatever their interpretation of the situation might be, there are serious questions about the conduct of his forces that need to be answered. Questions like: Did the police do any investigating of their own before arresting a man, or take hearsay evidence with any effort at verification (given that Sansone was arrested for possession of a firearm before his home was searched, it would seem to be the latter)? Did the information given to police by school and child welfare officials amount to probable cause sufficient to warrant an arrest? Why was Sansone strip searched, something Chief Torigian admits is not standard procedure? [5b] So, it seems that if the people of Waterloo Region are to maintain faith in police, they need these questions answered in a transparent, accountable manner.
Waterloo Police Finaly Apologized
“We are in a position to apologize publicly to Mr. Sansone, for not only being thoroughly searched when he ought not to have been, but more importantly the difficulties this has caused both him and his family in the aftermath,” [6] Torigian told reporters at a Monday news conference. Torigian said the strip search was the result of miscommunication between officers. Sansone should only have been frisked, he said, because police did not plan to charge him. Torigian did say police were right to arrest Sansone, who does have an assault conviction and is prohibited from owning a firearm. It was that information, Torigian said, that led to his arrest. “Everyone acted at that moment properly and in accordance with their legal obligations,” [7] he said. Sansone said that while he accepts the chief’s apology, he is still upset about what happened to him and the impact it has had on his kids. Sansone said he has been forced to move his children to another school. [8]
