OPP charge – Publisher’s note

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The announcement by the Grenville County Detachment of the OPP that the charge of mischief that had been laid against a local woman in connection with an alleged defacement of a crosswalk in Kemptville will come as no consolation to the woman involved. She has been vilified in social media and her experience has impacted her reputation in this community and elsewhere. This is not acceptable.

It has always been the policy of the Times to delete the names of people charged by the OPP for any reason. OPP press releases always, except in domestic abuse cases, give the name, age, and community of those individuals they charge. In our opinion, this reverses the concept of “innocent until proven guilty”, as the person has not been tried, much less found guilty of an offense.

In addition, there is no follow-up press release from the OPP if and when that individual is declared not guilty in a court. In this case, the accused was named in the original statement regarding the matter of the crosswalk, but not in the follow-up stating that the charges had been dropped.

Perhaps the OPP should reconsider its practice of naming those they charge, as in this case, running the risk of ruining a person’s reputation in their community. If someone is found guilty of an offense, then they may be named and shamed, if that is what is deserved

1 COMMENT

  1. The last paragraph in your story makes a whole lot of sense. We don’t need to know the persons name and address until they have been found guilty in court. I feel sorry for the lady that had to go through this ordeal. I hope the police do give a public apology to her.

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