Video shows that Sûreté du Québec officers “removed their identifying names and badge numbers from their uniforms in Ottawa.”
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Canadian police badge numbers appeared on helmets in Ottawa — they weren’t removed
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- The badge numbers of Quebec provincial police officers dispatched to Ottawa to help clear protesters appeared on their helmets. The numbers weren’t removed.
A video being shared on Facebook pans across the green uniforms of officers holding batons and wearing riot helmets with face shields. There are black rectangular patches on the left chest of the uniforms, but no names or numbers are visible on them.
"Justin Trudeau’s SQ (Quebec provincial police service) officers removed their identifying names and badge numbers from their uniforms in Ottawa," a description of the video says, implying that there was an effort by officers to escape accountability for their actions.
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Officers of the Sûreté du Québec, Quebec’s provincial police force, were recently dispatched to Ottawa, Canada’s capital, to help clear a blockade by truck drivers and other people protesting COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
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Sûreté du Québec spokesperson Marythé Bolductold us that the officers’ badge numbers appear on the front of their helmets when they’re wearing crowd control uniforms, and that it isn’t unique to this protest.
"We always do that, every time," Bolduc said.
While many of the officers’ helmets are out of frame in the Facebook video, several numbers on the front of the helmets are visible. They’re also visible in this photo that appeared in the French-language newspaper Le Devoir, this photo of officers in Ottawa on Feb. 18 that appeared on the CBC’s website, and this photo of officers taken by Canadian Press photographer Justin Tang.
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Our Sources
Facebook post, Feb. 19, 2022
CBC, Police vow around-the-clock action this weekend to end occupation, Feb. 19, 2022
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Canadian police have arrested 70 protesters in Ottawa, Feb. 18, 2022
Imago image, Feb. 18, 2022
Le Devoir, La police gagne du terrain à Ottawa, des manifestants résistent, Feb. 19, 2022
CBC, Quebec provincial police deployed to Ottawa to help clear protesters, Feb. 17, 2022
THE SÛRETÉ DU QUÉBEC, Our mission, visited Feb. 21, 2022
Interview with Marythé Bolduc, spokesperson, Sûreté du Québec, Feb. 21, 2022
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Canadian police badge numbers appeared on helmets in Ottawa — they weren’t removed
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