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There are lots of stories about why and when cops started being referred to as “pigs”. My personal favourite comes from the 1960’s and how cops looked while wearing gas masks, but apparently the expression has been used for like 400-500 years. You’d think they’d have gotten used to it by now. But no… they’ve got guns, bulletproof vests, clubs, numbers and the full power of The State behind them and one little word still gets their jockstraps in a knot. Oink.

Technical Stuff: This was with the Minolta and the 35-70mm lens, and direct flash. As long as they know you’re working, and not a threat, the police will pretty much let you do whatever you want with your camera. Be friendly, and act like you belong where you are and everything will be cool. This shot has been cropped to lose some empty space on the left.

Under the jumpsuits they’re wearing hockey equipment. The Ottawa police used to wear the same stuff, only on top of their uniforms. These guys are the Sûreté du Québec, or the Quebec provincial police. A couple hundred construction dudes had taken over the downtown bridges between Hull, Quebec and Ottawa. The SQ actually did a great job dealing with the very large protesters. But just when everything was cooling off the Hull city cops showed up and waded into the crowd, where they beat on random dudes for maybe a couple of minutes. Then they walked away… laughing. Weird. Weirder. Weirdest.

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