Disappointed with Optimist’s coverage of beach altercation


Re: Altercation ignites firestorm, July 2

I am very disappointed the Delta Optimist joined the media feeding frenzy over the altercation at Centennial Beach a few weeks ago.

I have always appreciated the Optimist for its balanced reporting. Sadly with this event you, or reporter Ian Jacques, have fallen into the same trap as other mainstream media. Certain TV news channels carried this story for five days straight. And now the Optimist has joined the fray.

Certainly the wife of the police chief was in the wrong, but equally so was the person who climbed on the rocks and invaded the Dubords’ privacy. Equally this has nothing to do with the police chief.

The Optimist then compounds the problem with a headline that says, “Many on social media are calling for the chief’s dismissal.” Really? Who authorized this headline? How did the Optimist measure this, which social media did you check, what is the count, how many is many? This is a sensationalist tabloid headline, not that of a responsible community newspaper.

If this had been a situation between two people of the same colour or ethnicity, it would have rated nothing more than few lines on your Crime Beat page.

There are aspects of this story that do not hold water - pun intended. If I understand correctly, the lady in question climbed up onto the rocks to avoid the incoming tide? On the afternoon in question, the high tide was not until after dark and it was a low high, which means it was lower than the average tide for this time of year and likely not enough to cover the beach - certainly not enough to cause someone to try to escape the rising water by climbing up and invading another persons’ privacy. Did anyone from the Optimist check the tide tables before writing the story?

So if it wasn’t water that caused this person to climb on the rocks, then why did she do so? Why deliberately invade another person’s privacy? It appears that neither of the two ladies involved followed Dr. Bonnie Henry’s advice to be kind to one another. Neither of these ladies displayed common sense. Did I understand that a group of people then came back the next day? If so, why? Why cause further upset? Why cause disruption to neighbours?

There is no justification in creating an altercation at any time but especially at this difficult time for all of us. Why didn’t the lady in question simply climb down from the rocks when asked? Both ladies are in the wrong. Both need to learn from it. 

Above all, this was not and is not racism. Those who are describing it as such and those calling for the chief’s resignation have another agenda, an agenda that sees opportunities to inject racism into every issue.

The police chief and members of the DPD need to know this community is proud of their police force, is proud of their police chief and sees no reason that the chief nor any member of the DPD should resign.

Roger Emsley

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