Police Officer Tells Man That He Has Planted Drugs On People In The Past And Threatens Him With False Arrest . . . But Later Returned To The Force

Recently, a video emerged showing a Canadian police officer in Durham threatening a man in 2011 with planting drugs on him and saying that he has done so before. The profanity laced tirade of the officer was posted on YouTube in which he not only threatens to plant drugs but to beat up the man. The police, however, say that the officer was “disciplined” . . . and then returned to duty. It is unclear what it takes to be fired as a police officer in Durham. The police seem more upset with the profanity than the fact that the officer is captured admitting to planting drugs and threatening an illegal act. The Toronto Star identified the officer as Constable Jamie Ebdon. Here is the punishment . . . he was docked two days’ pay. [Warning both the transcript and the video contain graphic language]

Durham officers went to the house in response to “a community safety issue” but no arrests resulted.

On the video, the officer is shown saying “I hurt people . . . and then I make their cocaine fucking appear, . . . You see how I work. . . . See what I do.” He appears to be goading the man to try to get him to get physical in the confrontation in the home in Oshawa.

The video shows the officer yelling “Shut your fucking mouth and do something . . . do something please, do fucking something . . . take a swing, so I can. . . ” The officer is heard using the f-word over three dozen times. Two other officers are standing by as this abusive scene unfolds. There is no record of the officers coming forward to report the abusive conduct.

At one point, the officer tells the man that he may arrest him simply for his “attitude.” He tells the man to show more courtesy to him and the other officers: “You see me again, you’re fucking . . . ‘Yes sir, no sir, three bags full . . . whatever the fuck you want. . . . Can I do a back flip?’ . . . Whatever I say, right? . . . You give me attitude and I’m gonna fucking drag you uptown. I’m gonna say you assaulted me. I’m gonna say you threatened me.”

The police department insists that the matter is closed with the return of the office to duty. Police spokesman Dave Selby stated “This issue was addressed and the officer was disciplined.” Selby said”[a]ny time an officer is depicted in this way in public, it’s a concern for the service. Inappropriate behaviour is taken very seriously.” This would seem more than a “depiction” of an officer. You have an officer threatening a criminal act and saying that he had committed criminal acts in the past. That should raise more than a “concern.”

Source: The Star