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Video of cops welcoming kids back to Burnaby schools sparks online outrage

A Twitter video featuring armed RCMP officers in uniform welcoming kids back to Burnaby schools drew criticism this week in light of ongoing international protests against police brutality.
rcmp-school-liaison-officer-video
A screenshot of a Burnaby RCMP Twitter video posted Thursday shows school liaison officer Const. Frank Tarape welcoming kids back to school after the COVID-19-related hiatus. The video has been criticized in light of ongoing international protests against police brutality. Photograph By Burnaby RCMP

A Twitter video featuring armed RCMP officers in uniform welcoming kids back to Burnaby schools drew criticism this week in light of ongoing international protests against police brutality.

The protests were sparked last week by the death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man killed by a white Minneapolis police officer last week.

“The timing is so terrible,” Byrne Creek Secondary School parent Trudi Goels told the NOW. “How can we think of police as being something nice or good when we are hearing Black and Indigenous people calling for defunding of police departments.”

The video, posted Thursday, features Const. Frank Tarape, head of the youth investigative team, telling students that officers are back to support them, monitor speeds in school zones and “connect on issues regarding school safety.”

After announcing that they may be wearing surgical masks at schools, keeping their distance and refraining from high fives because of COVID-19, each of the seven officers introduces themselves by their first name.

All but one – Const. Tulsi Reddy – are wearing bulletproof vests and carrying sidearms in the video.

On social media, Goels and others called for the video to be taken down and for youth investigative team officers (sometimes also called school liaison officers) to be taken out of schools.

“I take my lead from the racialized communities,” Goels said, “and they have been saying this is actually a school to prison pipeline. This is not actually creating a better environment for racialized students. It causes a lot of trauma and a lot of harm. If you have a bad experience with policing in your family and then you have to go to school and see a police officer there, it doesn’t make you feel safer.”

In a letter to the editor, Stephen Elliott-Buckley called out the Burnaby school district for retweeting the RCMP video with an appreciative comment.

“You need to take that tweet down and apologize publicly, then reach out to communities constantly victimized by the colonial white supremacy of police forces in your city, communities, students, staff and schools as a whole,” Elliott-Buckley wrote. “This is an opportunity to reach out and seek reconciliation with vulnerable communities for systemic passive and overt aggressiveness and trauma from policing, and the school districts' complicity in their partnerships with police forces.”

When asked for comment, Burnaby RCMP Chief Supt. Deanne Burleigh did not address the video directly but talked about one of the detachment’s officers.

“Earlier today, I spoke with Kenny Mugisha, a former Surrey student who told me about the time he missed his bus and was driven home by his school liaison officer,” Burleigh wrote in an emailed response. “Kenny describes this great experience as having set him on the path to a career in policing. Now, Const. Kenny Mugisha of the Burnaby RCMP, a member of both the African-Canadian community as well as the policing community, thrives to strengthen the relationship between police and the diverse communities we serve in Burnaby. In light of the recent tragedies around the world, I am reminded of the importance of these relationships.”

Burleigh went on to say school liaison officers use crime prevention, education and early intervention strategies “to create and maintain a safe and caring learning environment.”

“The Burnaby RCMP will continue to build bridges with youth, their family and all Burnaby residents,” Burleigh said.

Burnaby school board chair Gary Wong stood behind the district’s decades-long partnership with the Burnaby RCMP on the school liaison program.

“Over the years, liaison officers have become part of the fabric of our school communities – sharing and supporting education around problem solving, communication and making safe choices,” Wong said in an emailed statement. “As people around the world stand up in solidarity against racism, I am reminded of the importance of education and building understanding through positive relationships.”

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