In Canada, police officer faces bondage, S&M probe
A woman who goes by the name Sweet Meatball is restrained with large barbed hooks in a device called The Gate at the DomConLA convention on May 18, 2012, in Los Angeles, California. DomCon brings together enthusiasts of BDSM (Bondage, Discipline, Submission and Dominance) and other sexual fetishes.
Canada’s national police force faces pointed criticism after an officer posted bondage and S&M photos of himself online, including those showing him stalking a woman and holding a knife to another’s throat.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police launched a code of conduct investigation against Cpl. Jim Brown stationed in Coquitlam, BC, The Canadian Press said.
“While we must strike a balance between an individual’s rights and freedoms when off duty and the RCMP code of conduct, I am personally embarrassed and very disappointed that the RCMP would be, in any way, linked to photos of that nature,” Assistant Commissioner Randy Beck told CP.
Police learned about the photos in December 2010, but took no actions because they believed the photos were personal.
The investigation began after the staged photos appeared on bondage websites.
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They have since been removed from a site the Toronto Sun said Brown administered.
“(In one) series of picture, he comes upon a woman on the street. He stalks her, he captures her, he takes her somewhere, it’s a private location, he wraps her in cellophane … he puts his feet on her, he cuts her, she bleeds,” former police psychologist Dr. Mike Webster told the Sun.
In others, Brown — who called himself the Kilted Knight online, the Sun said — is naked brandishing a sword, while he's shown holding a butcher knife to another woman's throat.
This is just the latest incident to shake public confidence in the Mounties, with officers facing allegations of everything from sexual harassment to theft of cocaine.
There’s also concern among politicians who learned Brown played a small role in the Robert Pickton serial killer case.
Pickton said he imprisoned, tortured and killed 49 women at his Port Coquitlam-area pig farm.
“We expect more from our police and I am disappointed in this particular situation,” BC Justice Minister Shirley Bond told The Globe and Mail. “It’s important that British Columbians have confidence in the men and women who serve in our communities every day, as police officers.”
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