Officers treat all protests, demonstrations equally, says Waterloo regional police chief

Forty-six charges have been laid, "with more charges coming," since the launch of Waterloo regional police's special team dedicated to violations of COVID-19 rules, says Chief Bryan Larkin.

The COVID-19 Integrated Response Team (CIRT) was announced April 23. Officers have been involved in 286 occurrences, including planned protests, pop-up protests and a modified car rally, Larkin told the police services board on Wednesday.

The 46 charges were laid under the Reopening Ontario Act and the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act.

"Our community, hopefully, is recognizing that throughout the pandemic, we have been 24/7, 365 [days a year] supporting our health-care system, but also finding ourselves in some unique situations," said Larkin. 

He said there has been a "a very small percentage of our society that refuses to put the greater good of our community at the forefront."

'Community consternation'

Over the weekend, community members raised concerns on social media that police were targeting people who took part in a pro-Palestinian car rally for violating the Highway Traffic Act.

An online social media post by an account linked to the event said police "did their role for community safety," in pursuing road rules violations. A spokesperson with the Waterloo Regional Police Service told CBC on Sunday that no tickets had been issued.

Earlier this month, there were also concerns raised about the police presence at an anti-racism rally in Baden. Critics said they felt there were more officers at that demonstration than at ongoing anti-lockdown rallies in Waterloo. Police have denied that's the case.

Larkin acknowledged "community consternation" around the role of officers at various demonstrations and protests, but said the service treats each event the same way.

"In all cases, we follow a very planned approach, and we deal with organizers and we're also very candid and upfront with organizers that we will pursue charges."

When CBC asked about concerns from community members that police are not dealing with demonstrations in an equitable way, he called that a "false narrative."

He said officers find themselves in situations where they're trying to respect the public's democratic rights, but also have to enforce the law.

"Regardless to us what the social cause is or the social justice issue is, we ensure that the safety of everyone can occur," he said.

Larkin said while the Charter of Rights and Freedoms provides people the right to assemble, "we're in unique times."