Starlight tours
Encyclopedia
A starlight tour is the non-sanctioned police
practice of picking up individuals in their cruiser
s, mostly homeless
, drug addict
s, or other such marginalized people, and taking them outside of town where they would be beaten and/or abandoned on the side of the road.
A suspected case in Canada resulted in an inquiry in 2003 into the hypothermia
death of Neil Stonechild
in 1990, as part of a series of such cases, known as the Saskatoon freezing deaths
. The inquiry found that he might have been subjected to a starlight tour by the police. However, the inquiry found that at the time of the death the police investigation was not adequate to conclude what the circumstances were surrounding Stonechild's death. The 2 officers who allegedly picked up Stonechild that evening were eventually fired; they have steadfastly maintained their innocence and recently it has been discovered that the RCMP officers who investigated the alleged involvement of the Saskatoon Police hid evidence that would have exonerated these two officers.
In December 2010, a young aboriginal man named Evan Maud in Winnipeg accused the police of taking him to the edge of the city at 4:00 a.m., threatening him with a Taser, and taking his jacket. The police stated that the accusation was false and laid charges against Maud of criminal mischief, after evidence surfaced such as video of Maud boarding a bus 15 minutes after being stopped by police, corroboration by police GPS, and testimony by witnesses that Maud was not wearing a jacket that night.
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
practice of picking up individuals in their cruiser
Police car
A police car is a ground vehicle used by police, to assist with their duties in patrolling and responding to incidents. Typical uses of a police car include transportation for officers to reach the scene of an incident quickly, to transport criminal suspects, or to patrol an area, while providing a...
s, mostly homeless
Homelessness
Homelessness describes the condition of people without a regular dwelling. People who are homeless are unable or unwilling to acquire and maintain regular, safe, and adequate housing, or lack "fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence." The legal definition of "homeless" varies from country...
, drug addict
Substance dependence
The section about substance dependence in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders does not use the word addiction at all. It explains:...
s, or other such marginalized people, and taking them outside of town where they would be beaten and/or abandoned on the side of the road.
A suspected case in Canada resulted in an inquiry in 2003 into the hypothermia
Hypothermia
Hypothermia is a condition in which core temperature drops below the required temperature for normal metabolism and body functions which is defined as . Body temperature is usually maintained near a constant level of through biologic homeostasis or thermoregulation...
death of Neil Stonechild
Neil Stonechild
Neil Stonechild was a Cree Canadian First Nations teenager who died of hypothermia. There were accusations that the Saskatoon Police Service may have taken him to the northwest section of the city and abandoned him in a field on a night when temperatures were below −28°C...
in 1990, as part of a series of such cases, known as the Saskatoon freezing deaths
Saskatoon freezing deaths
The Saskatoon freezing deaths were a series of deaths amongst Canadian Aboriginal people in Saskatoon. There have been accusations these deaths may have been caused by members of the Saskatoon Police Service, indeed, some of them were...
. The inquiry found that he might have been subjected to a starlight tour by the police. However, the inquiry found that at the time of the death the police investigation was not adequate to conclude what the circumstances were surrounding Stonechild's death. The 2 officers who allegedly picked up Stonechild that evening were eventually fired; they have steadfastly maintained their innocence and recently it has been discovered that the RCMP officers who investigated the alleged involvement of the Saskatoon Police hid evidence that would have exonerated these two officers.
In December 2010, a young aboriginal man named Evan Maud in Winnipeg accused the police of taking him to the edge of the city at 4:00 a.m., threatening him with a Taser, and taking his jacket. The police stated that the accusation was false and laid charges against Maud of criminal mischief, after evidence surfaced such as video of Maud boarding a bus 15 minutes after being stopped by police, corroboration by police GPS, and testimony by witnesses that Maud was not wearing a jacket that night.
In pop culture
- A starlight tour is notably depicted in the Sylvester StalloneSylvester StalloneMichael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone , commonly known as Sylvester Stallone, and nicknamed Sly Stallone, is an American actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, film director and occasional painter. Stallone is known for his machismo and Hollywood action roles. Two of the notable characters he has portrayed...
film First BloodFirst BloodFirst Blood is a 1982 action thriller film directed by Ted Kotcheff. The film stars Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo, a troubled and misunderstood Vietnam War veteran, with Sheriff Will Teasle as his nemesis and Colonel Samuel Trautman as his former commander and only ally...
. - In the film A Clockwork OrangeA Clockwork Orange (film)A Clockwork Orange is a 1971 film adaptation of Anthony Burgess's 1962 novel of the same name. It was written, directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick...
, the protagonist, Alex, is taken out into the country side and assaulted by police officers who were previous gang members of his. - The Nick NolteNick NolteNicholas King "Nick" Nolte is an American actor whose career has spanned over five decades, peaking in the 1990s when his commercial success made him one of the most popular celebrities of that decade.-Early life:...
film Mulholland FallsMulholland FallsMulholland Falls is a 1996 American neo-noir crime thriller film directed by Lee Tamahori and written by Pete Dexter. The drama features Andrew McCarthy, Nick Nolte, Jennifer Connelly, Chazz Palminteri, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, Melanie Griffith, Treat Williams, and John Malkovich.Nolte plays the...
, a story of a Los Angeles police detectiveDetectiveA detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...
and his partners, is named for the protagonists' particular style of starlight tours. To wit, the detectives will approach a member of organized crimeOrganized crimeOrganized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
who has recently arrived in town and make what appears at first to be merely a harassment arrest. However, instead of taking the man to a police station, they take him into the countryside to a large cliff, which they euphemisticallyEuphemismA euphemism is the substitution of a mild, inoffensive, relatively uncontroversial phrase for another more frank expression that might offend or otherwise suggest something unpleasant to the audience...
call "Mulholland Falls", where he is thrown to his death.
External links
- Report of the Stonechild Inquiry (requires Adobe Acrobat readerAdobe AcrobatAdobe Acrobat is a family of application software developed by Adobe Systems to view, create, manipulate, print and manage files in Portable Document Format . All members of the family, except Adobe Reader , are commercial software, while the latter is available as freeware and can be downloaded...
)