had been meaning to write an article about the Community-Industry Response Group (now Critical Response Unit – BC) for some time. Given the delay, I thought that ChatGPT could help me out..
.it really didn’t. In fact, it showed me how much misinformation and propaganda there is about the CIRG and how necessary it is that the progressive left talk about CIRG/CRU more and the implications it has for policing in Canada.
First off...
What is CIRG/CRU-BC? The CIRG is a unit of the RCMP that was established in 2017 to suppress Indigenous anti-pipeline protests. It was officially renamed the Critical Response Unit of British Columbia (CRU-BC) earlier this year. It may be best known for its militarized response to protests in Wet’suwet’en territory and Fairy Creek where there was a media ban that helped police enforcement carry out violent tactics and aggression with minimal scrutiny and, as a result, minimal public outcry.
That being said, activists at Fairy Creek submitted formal complaints, forcing the CIRG/CRU to be put under investigation. There were about 500 complaints and allegations of police overreach including allegations of racism, excessive force, illegal tactics, and Charter of Rights violations. While this seemed like a ‘win’ and that public pressure was ensuring police accountability, the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC) seem to have not done anything in their investigation since it began over a year ago.
In that same year, while CIRG/CRU was.
