Not Again!?

I recently wrote about the car that bumped the side of the bank and the reaction of emergency services that resulted. The blame lies both on the respondents and the 911 caller. How often have we heard about the 'bomb squad' being called out because of a mysterious package which in reality was a left over sandwich in a brown bag?

This morning we read about the latest incident of this nature. It happened in Saskatoon where the city police responded to a 911 call regarding guns in a vehicle. It was a family, mom, dad, three kids and a friend, on a trip to the mall. They were stopped, the parents were forced face down on the ground, and the kids were traumatized with the cops guns being pointed at them. As it turned out, the kids had a toy gun, an over sized white, orange and green dart gun.

The 911 caller should be taken to task, perhaps given a crash course in what a real gun looks like. The cops could have used a bit more discretion too. Incidents like this are another reason for us to mistrust the judicial system. Everything is an overreaction, another example being the delays in charging any Vancouver Hockey rioters.

If this kind of thinking is a result of the Sept. 11 attacks, which we just recently memorialized, and I think in large part it is, then perhaps it is time to put that tragedy behind us and move on instead of letting it slowly erode our common sense and our freedoms. Ten years of remembering is perhaps enough and maybe next year there could be a huge celebration to announce that we are now taking a new direction. We are no longer going to let paranoia rule our lives. There is no way to eliminate all risks at all times, but instead we will move forward with confidence and common sense. Don't worry. It will never fly.