Law Enforcement Against Prohibition

Don't Silence Cops Who Criticize the "War on Drugs"

Posted online March 2, 2010

Active duty police officer David Bratzer was planning to accept an invitation to speak about drug policy and harm reduction at an official city government-sponsored event...until his police department's leadership stepped in and ordered him not to show up.

David Bratzer

Bratzer, a vocal "drug war" critic active with Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), has served the Victoria Police Department in British Columbia, Canada for four years, and he has spoken up publicly about drug policy on many occasions, including in front of a Canadian Senate committee. He is always clear in saying that his views do not represent the department's, and he only practices his activism while he is off-duty.

Even though Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms strongly protects citizens' rights to free speech and political advocacy (just as the First Amendment gives all Americans the right to criticize government policies they disagree with), Bratzer's supervisors at the police department ordered him not to speak out at the city forum.

If you think such censorship is unfair, please add your name to this petition to show your support for cops like David who speak out against unjust and ineffective drug polices even while they risk their lives enforcing them.

In a democracy, the right of citizens to speak out about government policies they disagree with is fundamentally important. Perhaps one of the most powerful examples of the expression of this right is when government officials themselves feel the need to speak out about policies they disagree with.

That's why it's so disturbing to hear that police departments would ever try to silence front-line officers who seek to expose the harms inflicted by the drug policies they are charged with enforcing.

We believe that cops who risk their lives on the front lines of the failed "war on drugs" should be able to express their misgivings about drug policies. Democracy can't work unless people who have firsthand experience witnessing the failure of current policies are able to share their perspective with elected officials who are charged with setting new policies for the future.

1-25 of 2455 signatures

Number	Date	Name	Any additional comments ...
2455	Fri Jul 30 04:27:38 EDT 2010	Mattias Stenberg
2454	Fri Jul 30 03:20:01 EDT 2010	Greg Logan	It is time to put the Special Interest corprotocracy OUT OF BUSINESS including such fascists as Asa Hutchinson, etc. ad nauseum!!
2453	Thu Jul 29 22:08:42 EDT 2010	Barry Carvish
2452	Thu Jul 29 19:34:25 EDT 2010	Andrew P.	When something is illegal or banned the demand for said object is greatly intensified, enough to kill for you could say. If prohibition is stopped the world will see these drugs as just another something More....
2451	Thu Jul 29 15:10:32 EDT 2010	Jade Michael	Since it is the police officers themselves who directly witness the failure of the "War on Drugs" approach, their opinions and experience will hopefully be able to carry more influence in adopting harm-reducing More....
2450	Thu Jul 29 12:29:21 EDT 2010	Chris Thomas
2449	Thu Jul 29 10:42:41 EDT 2010	Michael Wills
2448	Wed Jul 28 20:37:36 EDT 2010	Curtis Ward
2447	Wed Jul 28 16:43:18 EDT 2010	Adam & Carla Stoops
2446	Wed Jul 28 13:19:55 EDT 2010	Pamela Saladino	We are spending millions upon milions of dollars using our police force to arrest those people who choose to smoke marijuana while supporting the cartels as we do so! When prison builiding-most for non-violent More....
2445	Wed Jul 28 11:22:11 EDT 2010	Carol Mattern	When freedom of speech is subdued, the public's education is also subdued.
2444	Tue Jul 27 20:29:18 EDT 2010	Anonymous	It is important for the police to be able to speak up about any issue they feel is important to them. Everyone has a voice, the poor, the rich, the unborn, the police. The first amendment right belongs More....to everyone even if you may disagree.
2443	Tue Jul 27 15:31:05 EDT 2010	Kristian Oien
2442	Tue Jul 27 12:24:23 EDT 2010	delbert	the meek shall inherit the earth , beginning with Proposition- 19
2441	Mon Jul 26 23:48:05 EDT 2010	Aidan Niven	I know many police officers who agree that the war on drugs is futile. but they are too frightened to speak up. protect the first amendment! let them talk!
2440	Mon Jul 26 23:46:12 EDT 2010	Aidan Niven
2439	Mon Jul 26 20:52:29 EDT 2010	Kathleen Kakacek
2438	Mon Jul 26 17:24:18 EDT 2010	matthew zugsberger	it is imperative that law enforcement personal who belive in anti prohibition be allowed there 1st ammendment rights be secure
2437	Mon Jul 26 17:10:52 EDT 2010	Anonymous
2436	Mon Jul 26 16:40:49 EDT 2010	Robert Olander	Prohibition only drives drunkenness behind doors and into dark places and does not cure it or even diminish it. - Mark Twain
2435	Mon Jul 26 16:40:30 EDT 2010	Robert Olander	Prohibition only drives drunkenness behind doors and into dark places and does not cure it or even diminish it. - Mark Twain
2434	Mon Jul 26 16:21:43 EDT 2010	Todd Knight	It's time that we educated the population to the truth about prohibtion being the true ROOT CAUSE of "the drug problem" that society has to face today. Eliminating prohibition will fre up HONEST More....
2433	Mon Jul 26 15:30:10 EDT 2010	Justin Grech
2432	Mon Jul 26 14:04:02 EDT 2010	Igor Gerlovin
2431	Sun Jul 25 22:21:31 EDT 2010	Matt Fuller

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Please make sure to share the petition link -- http://www.CopsSayLegalizeDrugs.com/freespeech -- on Facbook and Twitter!

Dedicated to our departed colleagues who courageously spoke out about the destructive policy of Drug Prohibition
Eleanor Schockett	Gil Puder	Whitman Knapp	John Perry	Ralph Salerno	Bob Owens	Eddie Ellison	Martin Haines