"Creep Catchers" in Surrey catch RCMP officer

[calgaryblood]

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/b...hers-1.3755848

RCMP in Surrey, B.C., have arrested a Mountie following claims made by a vigilante pedophile-hunting group that an officer showed up for a meeting with one of the group's decoys, who was posing as a 14-year-old girl.

"Last night as the investigation progressed, the suspected officer was arrested and taken into custody where he remains today," acting RCMP commanding officer Brenda Butterworth-Carr said at a news conference Friday afternoon.

What I don't understand is the police have always said they can't use the evidence nabbed by these guys in court but then arrested the rcmp officer? Why aren't more arrested?

Kind of interested to hear why they only chose to make an arrest because he was an rcmp officer and have let countless others off the hook.

[Zulu29]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/b...hers-1.3755848



What I don't understand is the police have always said they can't use the evidence nabbed by these guys in court but then arrested the rcmp officer? Why aren't more arrested?

Kind of interested to hear why they only chose to make an arrest because he was an rcmp officer and have let countless others off the hook.

First I want to say that as an RCMP member I'm disgusted by this. If these allegations are true I hope this guy faces the full brunt of the law, there is no room for anyone who does this kind of stuff in the RCMP.

Now to address the OP's question as to why they are using evidence in this case and not others. I'm guessing that the reason why an arrest was quick in this case is for a few reasons. This was the first time a creep catcher sting was "live cast" so there would have been numerous views resulting in more witnesses, a call for service was made to RCMP right away, and the evidence was so strong that it warranted an immediate arrest.

The guy was apparently released on conditions by a Justice so I'm assuming the evidence against him is fairly signifigant. I know there will be posters who will want to paint all police with the same brush. I want you to know that the average cop on the street HATES when cops commit crimes but especially something like this. I don't want to work next to someone who does things like that and they don't deserve to wear the I uniform. I'm well aware that as a police officer, public trust is paramount to be able to do my job effectively. Things like this just destroy that trust.

[icecube]

This doesn't rub off poorly on RCMP or police in general, at least not in my opinion. Police Brutality, code of silence and slaps on the wrist are what anger me. This guy is clearly a cretin and I'm sure no cop in their right mind will come to his defense.

[Zulu29]

Originally Posted by icecube

This doesn't rub off poorly on RCMP or police in general, at least not in my opinion. Police Brutality, code of silence and slaps on the wrist are what anger me. This guy is clearly a cretin and I'm sure no cop in their right mind will come to his defense.

No code of silence here, he was arrested within hours of the incident. Believe me, if this stuff is proven true there is no way in hell anyone would ever agree to work with this guy again. If it's true I hope he gets the book thrown at him.

[CaptainCrunch]

I have the feeling that at some point in the future they're going to trap the wrong guy and one of these Creep Catchers is going to die live and in color.

[metallicat]

I'm confused by this whole thing. Sounds like creep catchers identified the wrong guy.

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/b...-b-c-1.3756915

But it says the Mountie was released on a series of conditions. So which is it? Confusing.

That being said, creep catchers are a bunch of amateurs and they clearly don't always do their due diligence.

[OMG!WTF!]

The writing is confusing but I think creep catchers got the right guy but the guy's name was similar to another cop's Twitter handle and random social media contributors suggested it was a different cop. Creep Catchers never posted the right cop's name or acknowledged the wrong cop's name.

I still like what they do. If they actually interfered with legit investigations they would be charged with doing so.

[Locke]

What floors me most is that there is an RCMP officer named Mrs. Butterworth.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

I have the feeling that at some point in the future they're going to trap the wrong guy and one of these Creep Catchers is going to die live and in color.

A state funeral would be in order

[calgaryblood]

Originally Posted by Zulu29

First I want to say that as an RCMP member I'm disgusted by this. If these allegations are true I hope this guy faces the full brunt of the law, there is no room for anyone who does this kind of stuff in the RCMP.

Now to address the OP's question as to why they are using evidence in this case and not others. I'm guessing that the reason why an arrest was quick in this case is for a few reasons. This was the first time a creep catcher sting was "live cast" so there would have been numerous views resulting in more witnesses, a call for service was made to RCMP right away, and the evidence was so strong that it warranted an immediate arrest.

The guy was apparently released on conditions by a Justice so I'm assuming the evidence against him is fairly signifigant. I know there will be posters who will want to paint all police with the same brush. I want you to know that the average cop on the street HATES when cops commit crimes but especially something like this. I don't want to work next to someone who does things like that and they don't deserve to wear the I uniform. I'm well aware that as a police officer, public trust is paramount to be able to do my job effectively. Things like this just destroy that trust.

I appreciate your reply but I don't see how it being live and it being recorded really made a difference. Creep catchers has shown video to the police before and have been told over and over they can't do anything with the video. Why would it matter if it was broadcast live and the police were called? You don't need numerous witnesses to a live video if you have it recorded which they always do.

The police were called several times for other guys and shown recorded video and other evidence.

I guess he hasn't been charged yet but the arrest is a little mysterious to me since they have always proclaimed what these guys are doing would not be enough for a conviction and that was their excuse for not doing anything about the other guys.

The evidence must have been significant but I don't buy that there hasn't been another case where the evidence was at least similar. I think the police have not charged anyone before because they don't want to send the message that what these guys doing is right or want to encourage vigilante justice.

I'm sure some reporter will ask them the same questions and I am interested in their answer.

[heep223]

Originally Posted by Zulu29

First I want to say that as an RCMP member I'm disgusted by this. If these allegations are true I hope this guy faces the full brunt of the law, there is no room for anyone who does this kind of stuff in the RCMP.



Now to address the OP's question as to why they are using evidence in this case and not others. I'm guessing that the reason why an arrest was quick in this case is for a few reasons. This was the first time a creep catcher sting was "live cast" so there would have been numerous views resulting in more witnesses, a call for service was made to RCMP right away, and the evidence was so strong that it warranted an immediate arrest.



The guy was apparently released on conditions by a Justice so I'm assuming the evidence against him is fairly signifigant. I know there will be posters who will want to paint all police with the same brush. I want you to know that the average cop on the street HATES when cops commit crimes but especially something like this. I don't want to work next to someone who does things like that and they don't deserve to wear the I uniform. I'm well aware that as a police officer, public trust is paramount to be able to do my job effectively. Things like this just destroy that trust.

I don't think there are people who would use something like this to generalize the RCMP. If there are, they're dumbasses.

There are "good people" and "bad people" in every profession. The vast, vast majority are good.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/b...hers-1.3755848



What I don't understand is the police have always said they can't use the evidence nabbed by these guys in court but then arrested the rcmp officer? Why aren't more arrested?

Kind of interested to hear why they only chose to make an arrest because he was an rcmp officer and have let countless others off the hook.

Generally these kind of sting operations fall foul of entrapment which is why the cops don't use them, assuming though that the 'sting' was well conducted, essentially the pedo contacted the fake child, was the one that brought up sexual content and actively tried to meet the 'child' then there's no reason not to use this kind of evidence.

[calgaryblood]

I just find it hard to believe that the one time they didn't screw up was this time? That all the other creeps they've caught (and there has been several dozen) all weren't good enough for an arrest but this one time it was. If this wasn't an rcmp officer, they wouldn't have made the arrest or even bothered with an investigation. That's not speculation, that's just facts from how they've treated the other men that have been caught.

[Flabbibulin]

Ya, probably not the first time these guys have falsely identified and shamed someone. Creep catchers now apologizing and asking the RCMP officer for forgiveness for the mistake.

Policing is not a perfect system as resources are divided among every type of crime, but they are the only ones that should be investigating these things.

[Kjesse]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

I have the feeling that at some point in the future they're going to trap the wrong guy and one of these Creep Catchers is going to die live and in color.

Or the "right" guy who does this instead https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Conradt

In the US the equivalent group crossed the line by melding entertainment with law enforcement but eventually were shut down. I'm not against creep catchers per say but they really don't know what they're doing IMHO.

Last week they busted a doctor in training in Medicine Hat. It's probably a good thing but their tactics concern me.

[OMG!WTF!]

Originally Posted by Flabbibulin

Ya, probably not the first time these guys have falsely identified and shamed someone. Creep catchers now apologizing and asking the RCMP officer for forgiveness for the mistake.

Policing is not a perfect system as resources are divided among every type of crime, but they are the only ones that should be investigating these things.

It's actually not creep catchers who misidentified the innocent cop. People commenting on social media thought they knew the guy but mistook his name for a similar sounding name. They're sorry it happened but it's not actually their fault.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

A state funeral would be in order

I disagree, these guys define vigilantism and in our modern society that goes against the rule of law.

Whether these people are doing the right thing, or whether there's an aspect where these guys are attention seekers or want to be deemed as hero's is very much up for debate.

I'm all over getting these creepy pedo's off of the street, but these people should be coordinating with the police early on in their process, instead they're risking having these creeps go free due to breaking the laws themselves.

[Zulu29]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

I appreciate your reply but I don't see how it being live and it being recorded really made a difference. Creep catchers has shown video to the police before and have been told over and over they can't do anything with the video. Why would it matter if it was broadcast live and the police were called? You don't need numerous witnesses to a live video if you have it recorded which they always do.

The police were called several times for other guys and shown recorded video and other evidence.

I guess he hasn't been charged yet but the arrest is a little mysterious to me since they have always proclaimed what these guys are doing would not be enough for a conviction and that was their excuse for not doing anything about the other guys.

The evidence must have been significant but I don't buy that there hasn't been another case where the evidence was at least similar. I think the police have not charged anyone before because they don't want to send the message that what these guys doing is right or want to encourage vigilante justice.

I'm sure some reporter will ask them the same questions and I am interested in their answer.

So from what I understand the reason why live streaming made a difference is that it created numerous witnesses some of whom were able to positively ID the guy right away. The police attended and arrested him within a short span. Plus the guy was sending info for weeks to the decoy. In previous cases I'm assuming there wasn't as much evidence or the method of obtaining it was flawed.

In any event, I'm glad they caught this guy.

[Bandwagon In Flames]

Take this guy down and make an example of him, which in Canada's justice system will probably mean what 2 years max?

There are going to be creeps in every profession, it's just good to see that there was no hesitation from his peers to arrest him.

I don't think the RCMP have done enough wrong over the years for me to lose any trust for them and their methods. Most of them seem to be well trained professionals and that makes sense as they go through much more training compared to the extremely flawed 6 month training programs in the States.

[OMG!WTF!]

Originally Posted by Bandwagon In Flames

I don't think the RCMP have done enough wrong over the years for me to lose any trust for them and their methods. Most of them seem to be well trained professionals and that makes sense as they go through much more training compared to the extremely flawed 6 month training programs in the States.

I'm not sure training has anything to do with human nature. I trust them cause there's no alternative but it's certainly not blind trust.

http://www.nationalpost.com/m/wp/tag...cmp-misconduct