Ex-pat in policecounter protest

Mr Peacocke, an alumnus of Faughan Valley High School who emigrated in 1975, turned up with a “Support our Police” placard at the Occupy Peterborough protest on March 15.

The radical leftists organised the event to “disclose police brutality and abuse of power cases specific to the Peterborough police; demand immediate apologies and systematic changes; empower others to share their reflections and experiences.”

But the 54-year-old Prehen-native nearly choked on his coffee when he saw a promotional poster depicting a baton-wielding policeman and demanding an apology from Peterborough police.

He explained to the Sentinel: “Peterborough is a city of over 70,000 people and I had never seen this type of behaviour from police and no one I talked to had ever seen this.

“The Occupy group had been involved in violent demonstrations before through out Canada and the United States that caused a lot of destruction to property and I didn’t want something like that in my city.

“I am not saying no officer had ever stepped over the boundary but the police force had an excellent reputation and only a couple of complaints had been registered against them. The police force has a complaint procedure in place to investigate complaints.”

The head-to-head transpired when the anti-capitalists - claiming to be “the 99 per cent” notwithstanding 84 per cent of the Ontario provincial legislature being comprised of free marketeering Liberals and Progressive Conservatives - staged their protest outside Peterborough police station.

After seeing the provocative anti-police poster Mr Peacocke vowed to stand up for the local boys-in-blue anxious that a force lauded for solving crime above the average for Ontario and Canada wasn’t demonised.

The slurs were too much for Mr Peacocke who prior to his emigrating in 1975 would have honed an acute sensitivity to the difficulties faced by front line police officers in the course of their duties amidst the maelstrom of Northern Ireland’s Troubles.

So whilst Occupy Peterborough generally fulminates “against the 1 per cent of the population who screwed us over,” on March 15, in Martin Peacocke, it had to deal with 1 per cent of the protest population, protesting the protest.

“I was angry about the poster and thought someone should stand up for the police,” said Mr Peacocke. “I am quite a private person but rather than organise a counter demonstration where people shout at each other or someone gets hurt I would just get a sign saying ‘Support our Police’ and I would stand in front of the police station.

“It really was just to let the police know it had ordinary people support. I had never done anything like this before. I felt Occupy had only around sixty members and in the area and did not represent the majority or even a small minority of the citizens and this was just a recruiting stunt to get on the news.”

For its part Occupy Peterborough claimed “alternatives to police were being heavily discussed within the Occupy community, but at this moment let us deal with the most prominent problem, that being our current oppressive police unit.”

“This event is to mark International Day Against Police Brutality and to make our presence known: we do not accept abuse of police powers, profiling and violence against our friends, children and neighbours!” the group said.

Despite the strong feelings held on both sides the event passed off peacefully as Mr Peacocke explained: “To the credit of the protesters they did not cause any violence.

“When I addressed the group I just said I respected their right to protest but we were on opposite sides of the issue. I didn’t want to start a whole uproar with condemning them or putting them down.

“They are young people and even if I or most of the citizens of the area disagreed they had a right to speak their mind. I just wanted the Police to know they are doing a good job and have people who care about them.”

Mr Peacock attended Newbuildings Primary School and Faughan Valley Secondary School before emigrating in 1975.

The son of Bob Peacocke, a Chief Petty Officer career sailor in the Royal Navy and Isabel Peacocke nee Robinson, his older brother is Robert Peacocke.

He told the Sentinel he always wanted to see other parts of the world and eventually chose Canada over Australia.

“I was fortunate to grow up in a family that allowed me to feel free about what I wanted to do or be and didn’t shut down the goals of a young boy,” he said.

“My purpose for telling the story is not to draw attention to myself I would prefer not to have attention but to make people realise we sometimes have to stand up to these kind of groups and tell the other side of the story,” he told the paper.