The Delta Police Association is selling blue and white wristbands in support of Constable Jordan MacWilliams, who was charged with second-degree murder in October in connection to a 2012 shooting.
A B.C. police force is defending its promotion of a bracelet campaign in support of one of its own officers currently facing charges of second-degree murder.
The campaign was started by the Delta Police Association, with members encouraged to wear blue wristbands supporting Delta Police Constable Jordan MacWilliams, who was charged with second-degree murder in October in connection to a 2012 shooting.
Const. MacWilliams was one of the officers who responded to a report of shots fired in parking lot near a New Westminster casino on Nov. 8, 2012. The response team encountered 48-year-old Mehrdad Bayrami, who was reportedly armed. After police tried to negotiate with the man, an officer-involved shooting occurred. Mr. Bayrami was wounded and died in hospital on Nov. 18.
The rubber wristbands are meant as "a show of support, not protest," said Delta Police Staff Sergeant Ryan Hall in an email. They are blue with the words, "honour," "integrity," "courage" and "trust" written in white letters, along with Const. MacWilliams' badge number, 2573.
"We ask that the public recognize that Const. MacWilliams was on duty, responded to a significant incident and was in the execution of his duties when this incident occurred," he said.
Staff Sgt. Hall serves as president of the police association, which he says was "looking for a tangible, professional and silent way" to show solidarity with their colleague, who appeared in court on Thursday. The wristbands were initially created for officers only, but after requests from members of the public, the police association began selling them, he said.
More than 2,500 bracelets have been sold for $2 each, which covers the costs of production only.
The Delta Police Department itself has been promoting the campaign on its website and through its official social media accounts. In one Facebook post, it advertised that bracelets could be picked up in person at the department headquarters. It also lists a private email address on its website through which the public can place orders.
Sarah Swallow, a spokesperson for the police department, said the website was used as a "stop-gap" to deal with the high volume of inquiries from the public requesting to purchase the wristband before they had even been publicized, since the police association did not have its own website.
"We pride ourselves in being a transparent organization, and we understand and recognize the concerns brought up about the appearance of our impartiality given that the wristbands were publicized on our Police Department social media," she said in an email. "As soon as these concerns were raised, the Delta Police Association immediately created a separate email address for the wristbands that is not affiliated to the Delta Police Department."
But Micheal Vonn, policy director for the BC Civil Liberties Association, said the police department's use of public resources negates its appearance of impartiality and undermines the public trust.
"The police are supposed to be policing. The crown is tasked with deciding whether there is enough evidence to support charges and whether it's in the public interest to bring those charges," said Ms. Vonn. "At that point, police, especially police that might be called in as witnesses and otherwise, must be neutral."
Douglas King, a lawyer and police accountability campaigner for the Pivot Legal Society, agreed.
"It's absolutely brutal," he said. "You kind of can't have it both ways. If we're going to have independent oversight of the police department, then the police departments have to be willing to accept the decisions that they make."
Ms. Vonn called the police force's involvement "misguided" and inappropriate.
"We've never encountered this question before," said Ms. Vonn. "May the police use public resources of a public institute to make a public statement about what they think of the guilt or innocence of a person who's been charged with a crime? Thirty seconds reflection on this should surely have shown the police that there is no way that the public could not understand this is as weighing in on the appropriateness of charges. That is simply outside the jurisdiction of police."
Staff Sgt. Hall said the police association appreciated concerns over its show of support, but that the campaign would continue.
"We know the Judge has an onerous job ahead of them and respect that position. We also will not allow this to interfere with the court process or our ability to do our jobs impartially on a day to day basis," he said. "At this time, we want to support our friend and coworker through this trial process, regardless of the outcome… We respect and will follow the trial process."