November 24, 2009

Calgary Police Officer Charged

Pastor delivers message of forgiveness

Artur Pawlowski Pastor of Street Church Ministries was found innocent of seven criminal charges levied against him in 2006, including “obstruct in public place, petty trespass act, obstruct, omit to assist a public/peace officer, causing a disturbance, loiter, and resist”, relating to the reading of a Bible in a public park. But the story continues. Pawlowski recently received a subpoena to appear at the arresting constable's disciplinary hearing for four days starting on November 30, 2009. Mr. Pawlowski has been asked to appear at the hearing to give evidence relating to the police department's findings of misconduct on the part of the officer during the 2006 arrest.

One would understand a person, who had undergone such a threatening and intimidating experience, to be angry and bitter, what is surprising is that Mr. Pawlowski is not. In a recently released statement, posted on the Street Church website (www.streetchurch.ca), which Pawlowski indicates he will read to the parties present at the upcoming hearing, he comes out with some impressive and striking remarks of forgiveness and co-operation.

“I am grateful for this opportunity to look into this man's face, look into his eyes, and from the bottom of my heart and say, 'you are not only forgiven now, but I forgave you in that police car when you arrested me'. There are always consequences for our actions, but I wish that we all could put this unfortunate incident behind us. I am not after this constable's job, everyone does wrong at one point or another, we are just human beings, and we all make mistakes. My only desire today is that we all would learn from these kinds of difficult situations and come out edified and better for it, making sure that similar incidents will not happen again,” stated Pawlowski.

What's even more surprising is that after four years of heavy pressure and up to 30 officers and 11 emergency vehicles, at a single Street Church event, and more than 80 summons and tickets, and over 30 court appearances, Pawlowski's message is seemingly unwavering; love, forgiveness, and mercy. He hasn't backed down from his convictions, oh no, in fact, he stands firm for them, yet at the same time he demonstrates many qualities desperately lacking in our society.

“In the end what I want all of us to remember, is not the officer's clearly wrong actions, but that there is power in forgiveness, and power in love. That is what should motivate us to move forward,” concluded Pawlowski.

The full content of the statement that Mr. Pawlowski will read at the hearing can be read at http://tinyurl.com/message-of-forgiveness.

To watch the video from the arrest, visit http://tinyurl.com/arrest-video.