As far as I'm concerned it's completely understandable why he did what he did - and for once - the outcome, at least for one person, was just.
A Saskatoon police officer has just been informed he will receive the "minimum discipline" (basically a warning for future behaviour) for his actions in 2010 and given the circumstances, if he had gotten any harsher a punishment it would have very wrong in my opinion.
It was a regular day on the job for Constable Colin Boyenko last year when he attempted to make a routine traffic stop after a vehicle ran a red. The outcome wasn't quite so ordinary though. Boyenko flagged down the driver but when he approached the car, the driver refused to turn off the ignition. Instead he fled the scene, Boyenko hanging on to the seat belt for his life as the car sped away at 98 km/hr. The officer eventually let go as the car made a turn and he was no longer in danger of sliding under the wheels, but the car sped on. The constable then fired four shots at the fleeing vehicle.
While it may not have been protocol, I'm willing to bet it would be a natural reaction for most in his position, to what had just happened. Boyenko remains on limited duty since that day. He has soft-tissue damage and no doubt a vivid memory of the days events.
That said, while what happened to Boyenko was dramatic, his life was not actually in danger when he fired the shots, thus the call for his reprimand.
"If your life is in danger and a vehicle is approaching you and you have to use your firearm to defend yourself, that is allowable," says Saskatoon's police chief. "But if your life is no longer in danger and the vehicle has passed and is fleeing, our policy prohibits firing at a vehicle. What we're worried about is if you miss... you could end up hitting somebody..." This is true and the rules are understandable and obviously there for a reason, but at least in this particular circumstance, I'm pleased they were bent in the officer's favor.
The driver of the vehicle was sentenced to just six months while this police officer may have live with an injury for the rest of his life because of one person's stupidity and careless actions. It's about time we support the people working to make our streets safer and get a tad tougher on those who push the limits. Everyone needs to have boundaries, but we train these people, they put their lives on the line for us everyday, and I for one, think they deserve a little trust and support.
