When Police Kill: Police Use of Force in Montreal and Toronto

Louis A. Knafla is a professor of history at the University of Calgary,
the co-editor of Law, Society, and the State: Essays in Modern Legal
History, and the author of Lords of the Western Bench.

Police powers theoretically exist to protect members of society but
sometimes are used to oppress them. Gabriella Pedicelli is a former
police trainee who was diverted from her chosen career path by the
structured military lifestyle, cowboy attitudes, and authoritarian
outlook. In this book, which is intended to promote awareness about, and
action against the injustices caused by the abuses of police powers, she
examines the files of eight cases in Montreal and nine in Toronto, from
1987 to 1993. Her slim historical introduction to policing in England,
the United States, and Canada is inadequate. The case studies are more
successful. Using literary sources exclusively, Pedicelli examines how
the media reported these cases, what they chose to report, and why.

Readers also learn about the constraints placed on the police by the
Criminal Code, and about specific police abuses and how they have given
rise to a fear of the police in those communities most affected by them.
Especially disturbing is Pedicelli’s account of the case of officer
Allan Grant, who not only did not face criminal prosecution for his
unprovoked killing of Anthony Griffin but also was given 80 percent of
his pension, in spite of the fact that the incident has become an
endearing symbol of police racism in Montreal.

When Police Kill includes a list of victims and a bibliography of the
literary sources; inclusion of some of the major historical,
criminological, and legal sources would have made the book more useful.