Showing posts with label Police. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Police. Show all posts

Friday, December 9, 2011

Women not Wanted in the RCMP



After my "get to the point" post about the latest RCMP harassment charges by a female officer in Surrey, one reader sent me a link to another case involving Sherry Benson-Podolchuk who wrote a book about her experiences in the RCMP entitled Women not Wanted.

I'll admit the situation is out of control. Bob Paulson has his hands full in turning the tide of arrogance and abuse within the force. He now claims women should have a greater role in RCMP leadership. True but just not any women. Women who are competent at the job. No doubt there are many. We just don't need the status quoe to recruit a handful of women to do their dirty work for them like Barbara George did.

Someone else sent in an article about two Manitoba Mounties convicted of beating a handcuffed prisoner. They illegally arresting an innocent man, beat him and then jointly tried to make him look bad in police reports.

This is another example of why the charter of Rights is so important and why the new US National Defense Authorization Act is so bad. In a free society, you need to be charged with a crime before being arrested. You are entitled to speak with a lawyer and have the right to a fair trial. The NDAA removes those requirements and lets the military arrest whoever they want, whenever they want and do whatever they want with them. If that act was passed in Canada, these two Mounties could not have been charged.

It appears that in the Manitoba case, pride was the root of the problem. Schulman convicted the officers of assault in September. He said the two officers “exaggerated” Papineau’s actions in their police notes and reports, not knowing the assault was captured on a security video.

They were outside a Grand Beach bar. The suspect complied and gave the police his id. The suspect admitted to snatching it back from the officer when he was done and started walking back to the bar. The officer then tackled him from behind, arrested him without charge, beat him while handcuffed and held him over night. The guy snatched back his id and the p=officers ego was bruised so he over compensated.

Again I'm going to say to fix the problem we need to begin at the beginning. We need to change Depot. We don't need to make it any easier. We just need to clean it up and get rid of the abuse. Sure officers face abuse on the streets. That doesn't mean they need to face it in the office as well. We need to empower officers to withstand abuse by building their self esteem not by teaching them abuse is acceptable and you need to abuse new recruits to teach them a lesson.

Recently, Ian Atkins, a retired superintendent was on The Fifth Estate and interviewed about a RCMP officer accused of assaulting and sexually harassing four female colleagues in the late 1990s. The female victims were also on the televised episode.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Bob Paulson next RCMP commissioner



According to CBC News, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has gone back to the ranks of the Mounties and has chosen Bob Paulson as the next commissioner of the RCMP. The official announcement is expected Wednesday. Three cheers. This was my second choice after Jim Chu. That's way better than appointing a lawyer for the Hells angels to the Supreme Court. What was the president of the Conservative party doing representing the Hells angels anyways?

Hey, Harper did something I agree with. Can you believe that? Miracles never cease. Now if he just arrested Brian Mulroney for the two million dollar settlement he defrauded the Canadian tax payers out of...

A civilian in charge of the RCMP is like having a civilian in charge of your military. It doesn't make sense. Promoting from within does. Bob Paulson isn't in Boy George's corrupt camp of pension fraud either. I am told he was involved with the gang task force in BC before things started to go wrong. I'm told he was competent and did a good job. Let's hope he gets the support he needs to inspect the troops and clean house so we can effectively start dealing with the OMGs in BC once again.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

More RCMP Sexual Harassment Allegations



I don't know what to say. I find these new RCMP allegations from a former senior member astounding. Cpl. Catherine Galliford was the face of the B.C. RCMP for years. During her tenure as the RCMP's spokesperson, Galliford announced the arrest of Robert William Pickton and revealed charges had been laid in the Air India bombing.

But in an internal RCMP complaint, Galliford makes serious allegations about misconduct inside the RCMP. Galliford says she faced constant sexual advances from several senior officers from the moment she graduated from the RCMP Academy in 1991.

She outlines years of harassment in a 115-page internal complaint that the RCMP has yet to respond to, including allegations a supervisor on the Missing Women's Task Force lied to colleagues when he said they were intimate and that he even exposed himself to her.

Here's what I'm having trouble processing: She claims she endured years of sexual harassment in the RCMP during the time of the Pickton murder announcement and for years prior to it. We have sex trade workers testify at the Pickton Inquiry that police would blackmail them into having sex with them. We even hear claims that off duty police frequented Piggy's Palace. I don't know what to say. I can see a pattern.

The sexual assault allegations during the Olympics and the claim they tried to smuggle a prostitute on board a police cruse ship in a hockey bag. It's had to process. Galliford says the command and control structure at the RCMP means Mounties are instructed to do as they're told, or risk getting reprimanded. This needs to change.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Operation Phoenix Revisited



Operation Phoenix was a significant police operation targeting the Hells Angels in the 1990's. I think it's time to revisit that case since it is the very nature of the legendary Phoenix to rise again from the ashes.

Allen Dalstrom was fired by OCABC chief officer David Douglas in 2004 after concerns were raised about Dalstrom's handling of Project Phoenix, a multimillion-dollar investigation of the Hells Angels that was never prosecuted, and over comments Dalstrom allegedly made to a journalist writing a book about the Angels.

Dalstrom alleged in court documents that Phoenix failed because of a turf war between the RCMP and the OCABC. His trial threatened to expose deep divisions between the RCMP and municipal police in B.C. and call some of the most senior officers in the province to the stand.

Insp. Andy Richards, a former investigator with the OCABC who now works for Port Moody police, said Wednesday that Phoenix targeted nine suspects, including three full-patch members of the Hells Angels, and the case should have gone to trial.

"It was a very compelling case and ... highly prosecutable," Richards said. "But because so much baggage had been raised and so much mud had been thrown, Crown was not willing to proceed because ... it was not in the public interest to publicize the level and extent of the infighting."

Richards said that in his view, Phoenix was scuttled by senior RCMP officers because they were jealous another agency had succeeded against the Angels on what they saw as the Mounties' turf.

Asked if he thought the RCMP had learned from the Dalstrom case, Richards replied: "I hope so. But I'm just not convinced they're an organization that necessarily learns from these lessons. ... I'm not sure they learn unless they take it on the chin publicly."

RCMP Supt. Pat Fogarty said Wednesday the four-member board that fired Dalstrom had only one RCMP member on it, with the other three from municipal police forces. "The decision to do what they did was not exclusively the RCMP," he said. "They were only one vote out of four."

Pat Fogarty, the man from space. I am told he is a buffoon. Literally. It is a great concern how someone so completely out of touch with reality could have risen so high in RCMP leadership. It's as though the RCMP didn't want cases against the bikers to proceed so they promoted an idiot to be in charge.

After the VPD caught two Hells Angels in a drug ring, the NDP government created OCABC, a provincial gang task force that was effective at it's job. The RCMP were jealous and did everything in their power to successfully scuttle it's operations. It is a travesty of justice that after the RCMP sabotaged OCABC, it was the provincial taxpayers that had to pay the $2 million settlement to hide what the RCMP had done. Pat Fogarty's allusion to the claim that it wasn't the RCMP that fired Allen Dalstrom is further evidence of that cover up. RCMP Bev Busson was the chair. She fired Dalstrom.

According to Mr. Woodall’s opening statements, Allen Dalstrom’s troubles began when he opposed the RCMP’s attempt to shut down a major drug investigation by the OCABC. Mr. Dalstrom was the lead investigator on the probe, called Project Phoenix, which was targeting Hells Angels.

Rob Gordon, head of criminology at Simon Fraser University, said if Dalstrom’s allegations are true, and key Hells Angels members escaped justice because of police infighting, the provincial government needs to take a hard look at how B.C. is policed.

“It’s outrageous,” he said. “And no professional police service anywhere else on the face of the earth would tolerate it.” Gordon said the current patchwork of RCMP and municipal police in Metro Vancouver simply isn’t working. Gordon added that he suspects Phoenix isn’t the only B.C. investigation that’s been derailed by police turf wars. “If there was an inquiry into all of this, we’d probably find a lot more,” he said.It’s time that we have a very thorough look at the issue of regional policing,” he said.

Project Pheonix never went to trial because they thought it wasn't in the "public's" best interest to air all this dirty laundry. To show how vindictive and controlling the RCMP administration could be in preventing an organized crime case going to trial.

I may be naive and I may be cynical but I like to give people the benefit of the doubt. Yet I do believe in the three strike rule. The RCMP scuttled Operation Phoenix and the provincial gang task force called OCABC. Strike one. Then the RCMP through Richard Barszczewski stopped an investigation against the Hells angels dead after 2 1/2 tons of cocaine were discovered aboard the Western Wind. Strike two. Then Pat the Buffoon Fogarty has the brazen audacity to make the amazingly absurd statement to the press that the Hells angels are no longer a threat in BC. Strike three you're out!

There is no reason Operation Phoenix can't proceed. The evidence has been collected. We don't care what the RCMP did to stop that investigation. Stopping it let's them accomplish their misguided goal. Proceeding with it is in the public's best interest. Suppressing it is not. BTW I'm told one of the three patch members that were targeted in Operation Phoenix was the ridiculous Weird Hal Porteous.

I think we should preserve the RCMP. If Jim Chu won't take the commissioner's job then Robert Paulson should get the job. Barbara George is dishonest.

However, I do not think the RCMP should be in charge of investigating the Hells Angels or be in charge of the gang task force any more. After three hugely successful attempts to stop cases against the Hells angels going to trial, their misdeeds have proven they should not be in charge of those investigations and the authority over the gang task force should be returned to the Provinces.

It was an act of Provincial legislation that created OCABC in the first place. That legislation still existed as does OCABC. It has loaned out it's members to the RCMP because of their campaign of dirty tricks to gain control then promote a buffoon who makes sure nothing gets accomplished.



BTW One of the reasons cited by Douglas for firing Dalstrom is that he believed Dalstrom was the “OCA insider” quoted in Julian Sher’s book about the Angels, The Road To Hell, How the Biker Gangs Are Conquering Canada, who said that, when it came to organized-crime investigations, the RCMP had done “f--- all here for 25 years”. So once again we see someone fired for telling the truth. The Ontario Biker Enforcement Unit is successful because the RCMP doesn’t have anything to do with it’s administration.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Former Mountie charged with murder released on bail



A former B.C. Mountie charged with the second degree murder of his common law wife is now out on bail. His lawyer claims
“This person spent all of his life obeying the law, and half of it enforcing the law,” said Skogstad. “If he can’t get bail, who can?” Someone who hasn't been charged with murder perhaps?

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Crack-smoking cop wants job back



Another reader just sent this one in. A former Brantford, Ont., cop who was caught on police video smoking crack cocaine and snorting Oxycontin in his cruiser is fighting to get his job back or secure a financial settlement from the service.

Jeffrey Servos was a Brantford cop for six years. In 2009, he pleaded guilty to one count of possessing cocaine and was also hit with 16 Police Services Act charges.

He resigned from the force that year after a series of plea bargains rather than serve three months in jail. The police act charges were withdrawn after he resigned.

In March, Servos filed a complaint to the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal alleging "discrimination in employment on the basis of disability."

Servos claims a doctor told him "his employer (Brantford police) had failed in its duty to accommodate his drug-related disability" and there may be grounds for getting his job back or a financial settlement.

Wow. I had no idea it was that easy. Just start smoking crack and you can go on disability. What a broad precedent. No one will ever have to work again. He was also part of the methadone program and was investigated for shooting at a stolen van.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Edmonton Police and the Hells Angels



In the spring of 1999. Ron Robertson and Ken Montgomery claimed the Edmonton police force had been infiltrated by the Hells Angels and other elements of organized crime. They also claimed the chief at the time, John Lindsay, was ignoring their concerns.

After weeks of research and confidential meetings the first break came. Sources revealed a police detective was strongly suspected of selling inside information to the Hells Angels for $20,000. Meanwhile Police Chief John Lindsay also asked that any investigation into his conduct be stopped.

As a result of the first stories, more confidential sources came forward with information about a secret medical report on Robertson, a report the detective himself had never been allowed to see. Chief Lindsay had used the secret document to demote Robertson on the grounds of mental incapacity. The 19-year veteran was no longer able to investigate biker gangs in the department`s Integrated Intelligence Unit. In his new position, the restrictions were so severe that Robertson was even prohibited from leaving police headquarters during his shifts. But curiously, what CBC learned was that the doctor`s report actually gave Robertson a clean bill of health; he suffered from no discernible mental disability. The report suggested the force`s problems with Robertson were not medical at all; but rather an internal, administrative issue.

CBC also claimed that Calgary's chief had written a letter to his Edmonton counterpart warning that one of his officers had been observed associating with criminals in a Calgary bar and had talked about police surveillance techniques.

There were also RCMP investigations from the past that looked at a host of allegations: that several police investigations were destroyed after officers leaked confidential police information of a sexual assault committed by an Edmonton police officer and of another officer dating a stripper, who at the time was living in the Hells Angel's clubhouse in Quebec. CBC reported that none of these allegations had been investigated; mysteriously the probes seemed to just stop when they were passed on to the Edmonton Police Service. These new allegations showed that suspicions of corruption within the Edmonton police department were far broader than Detectives Montgomery and Robertson had revealed in their complaints.

Twenty-six weeks into 2011, Edmonton leads the nation with 26 confirmed homicides, closing in on annual totals of 27 from 2009 and 2010, and on pace to surpass the 2005 record of 39. Cities of comparable size lag far behind: Winnipeg has 16, Ottawa, five, while Calgary has four. Edmonton outstrips far greater populations. Toronto, with a core population of 2.5 million, has had 24 homicides. Montreal, with around two million, has had 18. There have been six homicides in Vancouver.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Barbara George and the RCMP Pension Fraud



I'm not referring to Boy George Karma Chameleon. I'm referring to RCMP deputy commissioner Barbara George, who lost her job after being accused of perjury and becoming the public face of the Mounties’ pension-fund fiasco. She claimed she was collateral damage and was confident she would get her job back and she did.

In court documents, George alleges Chief Supt. Robert Paulson improperly began a criminal investigation into allegations she misled the committee and committed perjury. She argues "misleading" the committee would be a contempt of Parliament and "is punishable only by the House of Commons."

Can you believe that? The fact that it is unparliamentary to call someone a liar in the Canadian Parliament has always been a pet peeve of mine. Lying is OK. You can't get charged with perjury for lying in Parliament because that is protected by "parliamentary privilege". But God help you if you expose someone for lying in parliament. If you call a liar a liar in Parliament they will kick you out for telling the truth. That is our bizarre system.

I'm all for seeing a woman rise in the ranks of the RCMP finally. Yet I am very concerned with perjury and I am very concerned about using the argument in court not that she was innocent, but if she had committed perjury the RCMP's criminal investigation into her conduct was "unlawful and invalid" because the code of conduct and criminal investigations the RCMP initiated into her testimony "breach" parliamentary privilege. That is just plain crazy talk.

So basically she lied. Deputy Commissioner George testified with "absolute finality" that she had nothing to do with Staff Sgt. Frizzell's removal. The committee heard other witnesses, however, who insisted she did. Does Sergeant Frizzell get his job back now?

The RCMP investigator asked the MPs to waive parliamentary privilege on Deputy Commissioner George's testimony so it could be used as evidence in a criminal investigation and possible prosecution. He told MPs he felt her testimony was "deliberately false" and given with the "intent to mislead."

Instead the MPs voted and found her in contempt of parliament which basically means nothing criminally other than the fact that she did lie and was guilty of misleading Parliament. No big deal. Stephen Harper was found in contempt of parliament for refusing to disclose how much his fleet of oil bombing jets would cost to his insider's firm. Just another day in the House of Commons.

The point is, even if her perjury was not admissible outside of Parliament and she got her job back, she should not get the top job of being in charge of the entire RCMP. That would be wrong and it wouldn't help fix what really is broken at the RCMP.

Aside from the fact that Barb George lied in Parliament, we need to focus on what the RCMP Pension scandal was really about. Then we can figure out how to fix it and prevent it from happening again. Pension funds are sacred. We really need to stop letting politicians steal our pensions. It's a matter of trust.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Police Issue Gang Warning



The police have issued a public gang warning that was featured on the front page of the Vancouver Sun, the Vancouver Province and the Surrey Leader. After the nit wit was shot in Surrey, the police are now publicly saying that anyone associated with the Duhre and Dhak gangs could be in danger. No kidding. They're selling drugs in the Hells Angels territory. I think the police do mean well, I just think they simply aren't getting it.

We've talked about legal liability and the police's duty to warn the public of known gang members like they would warn the public of a known sex offender. This "warning" doesn't fit the bill. I'll spell it out one more time but it's beginning to feel like banging my head against the wall.

Let's look back at the public rally in Bear Creek Park in memory of Chris Mohan and Ed Schellenberg where they released doves in memory of loved ones lost to gang violence. Eileen Mohan made a public appeal for a web site to identify known gang members. Every time we hear about another gang shooting we hear it's OK the suspect was known to the police. The point is, if they are known to the police they should be known to the public.

Had the police issued a public warning about the Red Scorpions before the Surrey Six murder, that really would not have saved Chris Mohan's life. They didn't know Red Scorpions were living next door. To fulfill the police's duty to warn they have to name members of the gangs.

Obviously everyone on Cheech and Chong's Duhre Dhak list isn't safe. Well who are the members of the Duhre Dhak's drug network? If they are known to the police, they should be known to the public. If I'm told that someone I'm living next door to, or do business with, or someone my daughter is dating is a member of the Duhre Dhak drug network, then I can take measures to prevent being victimized by gang violence. If I don't know who the members of these gangs are, the warning is pointless.

I do think the police are worried about getting sued by gang members. In the printed edition of the Vancouver Province article there was a disclaimer about the police's warning was permitted because of the privacy act. Personally, I think they should put the entire Bar Watch Registry online just like Bait Cars dot com. Unfortunately, that might create law suits. Yet naming an individual and saying he has been charged with drug trafficking is not unlawful nor is it slander.

Darryl Plecas said that although the warning may not be useful to the public, It really is a sign that police are on top of this. Yeah right. Well they sure aren't on top of it when someone says the Hells Angels are no longer a threat to public safety and don't even have chapter status in Kelowna any more. That is so far out of touch with reality it is suspect.

How about a public warning that anyone standing next to Larry Amero or Hal Porteous is in danger of getting caught in the crossfire? If the police claim that the Duhre Daiquiri's are in opposition to the Hells Angels, then it's pretty obvious the Hells Angels are the ones putting the public at risk by shooting at these tools in public.

I say tools because Khun-Khun is an idiot. His own family doesn't trust him for good reason. His fiance mysteriously fell out of the car he was driving and died. He claimed it was an accident and his in laws didn't believe him. So he jumps in front of a truck in a suicide attempt. He said his deceased fiancee let him live and that was a sign. A sign from who? A sign that he's an idiot for jumping in front of a truck. This guy is not a high level drug dealer. The only connection the Duhre Daiquiri's might have to the Kelowna shooting is that they are buying their drugs off of the UN who are a lot more capable than they are.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

The Police's Duty to Warn



A reader asked me what I meant by the police's legal obligation regarding their duty to warn so I thought I'd explain. It's rooted within the Jane Doe VS Metropolitan Toronto Commissioners of Police decision. In that case the police failed to warn the public after they realized a serial rapist was on the loose.

Jane Doe was one of the Balcony Rapists victims after four other women were targeted in similar circumstances. She sued the police for their negligence in warning the public about a serial rapist as well as their statutory duty to protect the public from criminal activity. She won and was awarded $220,000.00 in damages.

My use of the term duty to warn with regards to gang activity was simply a quote when Kim Bolan used the term regarding the recent shooting victim in Surrey. She said: "The 24-year-old has a history of police that stretches back to his late teens. When a gunman opened fire about 9:30 p.m. Friday, he was with others who have been the subject of police “duties to warn” because there are others out there that want them dead. The victim remains in critical condition. He is currently out on bail on trafficking charges."

On that subject, the only people I remember the police issuing a public warning about was the Bacon brothers and that came from the Port Moody Police so I am keenly interested in who the others the victim was with that were subjects of a duty to warn and are still loose in the community. Jonathon Bacon is dead. Jammie Bacon is in prison and I have no idea where Jarrod Bacon is. Who these other friends that were with the victim that have been the previous subject of a police duty to warn is clearly a matter of public safety. The police should not be withholding that information from the public.

What if someone living next door to them is not aware of the warning? What if one of their family members is shot dead in the cross fire when the gangs come looking for their neighbour? That family shouldn't have to sue the police for a wrongful death and for being negligent in their duty to warn. The police should do it because it's the right thing to do.

In the police's defense I will concede they are likely worried about their legal liabilities from both sides. More so from the criminal suing them then the law biding citizen suing them which happens much more often. The person who was shot in Surrey is well known to police and has was released on bail for drug trafficking. Releasing that name to the public is not a breach of his privacy rights. If he has been charged with a crime, it is not unlawful to state so. Gordon Campbell was charged with DUI in Hawaii. It is not slander to say that.

The fact that this drug trafficker was shot at in Surrey and the people he was with were the subject of a police duty to warn because people out there wanted them dead and they are now at large, that increases the legal liability ten fold. The citizens of Surrey should not have to file a class action lawsuit against the police for failing to maintain their duty to warn. The police should do it because it's the right thing to do. How can the police build bridges of trust with the community when they are still knowingly alienating them? That is why I say we have come one step forward and two steps back. If find it profoundly disappointing.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Diary of a Vancouver beat Cop



There's been a few stories in the news about a new blog by Steve Addison called Diary of a Vancouver beat Cop. It's being billed as a new voice for the Downtown Eastside.

He claims Members of the Vancouver Police Department have a history of being on the cutting edge when it comes to using media to educate and inform people about the tragic and wasted lives on the Downtown Eastside. Indeed they have.

Sgt. Toby Hinton, (Ret.) Const. Al Arsenault and the rest of the Odd Squad led the way with Through a Blue Lens, produced in 1999 by the National Film Board of Canada. The officers carried video cameras on the beat to document the existence of several Downtown Eastside residents and their fight to survive.

I think highlighting the problems of East Van is a good thing. I don't think handing out free crack pipes to mental patients on the street is the humane solution to closing down mental institutions.

The other extreme I'd like to cite is the concept that some police claim that the 'Void' in drug underworld cause of biker war in Winnipeg. Just as the VPD want to highlight the social problems in the Downtown East side, I want to highlight the misconceptions that enforcement is wrong and being enablers is right. That is absurd.

The biker war between the Rock Machine and the Hells Angels support clubs was not because the police cracked down on the Hells Angels and the Zig Zag crew. It was because the Hells angels killed one of their own to let the Ontario Hells Angels take over the drug trade in Thompson Manitoba. That created an internal rift where Hells Angels members crossed over to the Rock Machine and fought back.

It had absolutely nothing to do with making Hells angel and Rock Machine arrests. If the Hells angels hadn't killed one of their own, they all would still be working for the Hells angels even after the Zig Zag crew were arrested.

Enforcement is not wrong. It is a civic duty. When you see the problems of the Downtown East Side you can see that enabling addiction is not humane. Giving an alcoholic alcohol is not the answer. Neither is letting the Hells angels have a monopoly on the drug trade and profit from all that exploitation.

The Hells Angels are recreating the social problems in the Downtown East side in smaller communities across the province and across the country. This greed driven exploitation needs to stop. We need to pull together to address the problem and over come it. It all begins with enforcement. That is the New York model. Letting crack dealers sell crack in public is morally wrong. We need to target the dealers not the addicts.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

RCMP Officer accused of sexual assault



The other article in the Vancouver Province I was commenting on was the Mountie Sex Suit where a high ranking RCMP officer, Staff-Sgt. Travis Pearson, has been accused of sexually assaulting a female officer. It is frighteningly familiar to the Colonel Wing Nut case and many others where someone in a position of authority abuses that position to pressure someone vulnerable into a sexual relationship.

We can't discuss this case because we don't have the evidence before us but we can discuss the article because it raises several important points. Here we have a female RCMP officer claiming she was raped and pressured into a relationship by one of her superiors. Those allegations are either true or false. Either way it is very disturbing.

Seemingly the VPD investigated the case but the VPD investigator concluded the evidence did not support the complaint and no charges were laid. The victim claims the VPD detective failed to contact relevant medical experts or adequately consider evidence about alleged inappropriate conduct by Pearson in connection with two other female officers, and several municipal employees, including an alleged relationship “which had elements in common with [Gastaldo’s] complaint.”

If that is true it does indeed establish a pattern of abusive behavior. Her lawyer claims “When you have police officers investigating police officers there is always issues that are held up, and really this is the type of thing that needs to be investigated by a civilian arm.”

That is basically what we have been saying all along. We need a civilian agency to monitor police complaints. However, this case does raise a dilemma. Can civilians investigate criminal charges? After all, if someone wants to press criminal charges against anyone, the police must be involved to investigate. Can civilians investigate criminal charges? It is indeed very problematic.

I completely agree we need a civilian agency to investigate police complaints. Yet all police complaints would likely involve criminal activity. If they have been accused of using excessive force, that would constitute assault. In this case, if someone is accused of rape, that would also involve criminal charges.

Obviously civilians do not have the power to lay criminal charges. They do however have the authority to make recommendations to the crown and they can over see disciplinary courts. When the Delta police investigated the Kelowna mountie who kicked the suspect in the face when he was on his knees, they recommended criminal charges be laid. That is the same thing a civilian agency could do.

It is possible that the VPD did a thorough investigation and sincerely did believe that there was not enough evidence to pursue charges. The victim was married. The complaint surfaced when her husband found text messages of a sexual nature on his wife's phone. No doubt the defense would argue they were in a consensual relationship i.e. she was having an affair and told her husband she was raped. Possible but no more possible than the possibility that she was indeed raped and her eventual submission “was directly related to his authority over her and the command culture of the RCMP.”

Indeed the command culture of the RCMP is something that needs to be looked at. Yet if the guy was raping her, you'd think he wouldn't be texting her incriminating evidence. Unless he was just another wacko that got off on weird stuff. I'm certainly not going to minimize the case and say the victim is lying because she might not be. If what she says is true and her allegations are supported by other witnesses who experienced similar abuse then that does need to be investigated by a civilian agency. In fact it is. A civil court is investigating the matter. Hopefully due process will prevail.

I still don't think this case is enough reason to disband the RCMP. Create a civilian agency yes. Examine the command culture of the RCMP yes but disband it no. We don't disband the education system because a teacher sexually assaults a student. Likewise, we don't dissolve transit because a bus driver has an accident under the influence.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Regional Police Force



Locally, John Ferry wrote an article in the Vancouver Province calling for a Metro police force that he hopes will solve all the world's problems. Obviously, that's going to generate a knee jerk reaction from the RCMP. Personally I don't see a metro police force in BC being the solution to anything. Point granted it works in Ontario. But this isn't Ontario. Ontario has a much larger population base.

Take Surrey for example. We don't have City police in Surrey, we have the RCMP. In fact, the RCMP musical ride is part of our historical tradition in Surrey. For us to give up the RCMP would be like trading in a longstanding historical tradition for a mall cop. I don't think we want a Regional police force in Surrey.

Although there is merit in the concern that our current system is fragmented, let's think about how it got that way. Vancouver wanted it's own police force. So they made one. The same with Delta and New Westminster. They wanted more control over their own policing so that is what they decided to do. I don't think those cities want to give up their control over their own police forces.

Then comes the issue of unionization. Some people love unions, some people hate them. The feeling that I get from the RCMP is that they prefer not to be unionized. That is their choice. Just like it's Vancouver's right to chose unionization.

Personally, I'm an idealist. I support the historical tradition and the values portrayed within the RCMP. I'll be the first one to agree the RCMP needs help. Everyone likes to cite the taser incident at the airport over and over and claim that is proof why we need a regional police force. But it's not. VPD has had it's share of police brutality complaints. The use of force instructer in New Westminster got drunk and robbed a newspaper deliveryman with two of his buddies.

What we do need in BC is a civilian agency that monitors police complaints. That is a given. It needs to oversee all policing in the province not just one force. The taser incident in the airport is over rated. Yes it was an absolute tragedy. Yes the police misused the taser. Remember it's the airport. With all this terrorist frenzy it isn't surprising the police over reacted in a call to make the peace in the airport.

Saying that a regional police force would have prevented the Vancouver riot is somewhat absurd. Yes the police were under prepared. We just came off the Olympic high. We didn't really think the mob would flip to the other extreme so fast over something so senseless. That certainly doesn't mean we want to march around with the SS breaking into homes and removing civil liberties. Jim Chu is a good man. I still think he would be perfect at the head of the RCMP if he so chose. Yet perhaps a better choice would be to promote someone from within. Having a civilian lead the RCMP is kind of like having a civilian be a general in the army.

I like the idea of speaking with an RCMP officer in Surrey from Quebec. I like the idea of an RCMP officer from Surrey serving in Quebec as well. One of the problems with a City police force is stagnation. I think working main and Hastings for your entire career could get you down after a while. I think having the option to transfer out would be good and I think giving other officers the chance to work Main and Hastings would be a eye opener for them as well.

Perhaps the best way to over come the fragmented system is to have the various agencies work together. Imagine that. As long as there is the threat of doing away with the RCMP or having VPD give up it's control of it's policing, all the agencies get territorial and protective. Let's keep the status quo and encourage more interaction between the forces.

Ontario's Biker Enforcement Unit came out to Langley when the Whiterock Hells Angels had a party there. Why can't RCMP officers go on an exchange with VPD officers and visa versa. By building those kinds of relationships you break down the walls of ignorance and stereotypes and you promote interaction. It's like I've got a friend in the VPD I trust so I can share information with him or visa versa.

I think we should preserve the RCMP. I do think Stephen Harper spending millions on promoting the RCMP "brand" while at the same time cutting funding for the RCMP and the Gang Task Force is hypocritical and bizarre. Yet preserving good traditions helps us carve out and retain our unique identity as a nation.

It's like Paul Gross in the TV Series Due South. Ya gotta love that optimistic Dudley Do Right naivety the character portrayed. Seeing the RCMP on police boats in Pitt Lake was inspiring. It's like the adage of how the Mountie always gets his man. It reminded me of seeing a police presence in Surrey Central complete with volunteers, a mobile command center and auxiliary police officers on quads for chasing down suspects in Surrey parks. That was awesome. Let's preserve our heritage and not trade it in for mall cops. This is our home. That makes it worth fighting for.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Pat Fogarty: Which side is he on?



For someone who is in charge of the BC Gang Task force, this guy is making some pretty outrageous statements. He told the Kelowna Daily courier that "There is no Wolf Pack. I don't know where people get that type of information. Probably the real truth is they were holidaying up there."

We know where that information came from. Kim Bolan doesn't report something unless she is confident in the reliability of the source. The denial is puzzling. That's not the only outrageous statement Pat Fogarty has made.

Patman claims "The Hells Angels chapter has almost dismantled now. They don‘t even have club status any more. Our biggest fear here in our province is actually the ones that aren‘t named."

"We‘ve pounded them here (Lower Mainland). Most of the RCMP resources initially were here and that was coupled with more competition, less market share. It‘s almost like the big wigs survive in Vancouver area and push out other ones or factions of bigger groups start up field offices elsewhere because they can make additional money."

The Gang Task force has done absolutely nothing to curb or curtail the Hells angels drug trade in East Vancouver. Nothing. Last night I saw two Harley's parked in from of the Black Door and the Bulldog cafe which the police let the Hells Angels operate freely. The Hells angels are taking the profits they make in East Van and live the good life in Kelowna as a result.

They also expand their drug trade into smaller communities like Vernon, Kamloops, Prince George and Dawson Creek. The drug trade in these smaller towns is controlled by the Hells angels. This leader of the gang task force is lying. It reminds me of that retired police officer from Vancouver Island who kept sending in letters to the editor saying what wonderful people the Hells angels are. They just beat Dain Phillips to death with baseball bats and hammers for God's sake.

If we are going to pay the gang task force with tax dollars to stop the gangs in BC, we need a new leader of that task force. Either that or change the members of the gang task force who are giving him that false information. If we don't, we're never going to make a dent in the gang war.

You don't solve the gang war by going after all the hells angels competition and let them control everything. Letting them torture addicts for drug debts is wrong. No wonder the VPD thought the security of the AG's office was compromised.

The Jones brother's indictment and the Robert Shannon conviction show that the Hells angels control all the grow ops and all the crack dealers in the cross border pot for cocaine drug trafficking ring. Focusing on the ones who are not named will not stop the ring because they will just find another mule. It's the Hells angels who control and profit from it.

One blog reader pointed out that J Edgar Hoover said there was no mafia. Turned out he was being blackmailed by them.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Night Club Racism



This three part documentary is from Calgary but I've heard similar stories here. I find it very disturbing. Private businesses are allowed to be racist? That just isn't right. The police are being paid by the nightclub to enforce racism. Insane. This clip is of a cop punching a black guy in the head when he is on the ground, handcuffed and not resisting arrest. These acts diminish us as human beings.

Monday, June 27, 2011

The RCMP Pension Scandal



I'm trying to understand the nature of the RCMP Pension scandal. A lot of political posturing and accusations have been thrown back and forth but it's important to get to the root of the problem in order to fix it. It is essential to do so if we are to restore and preserve the integrity of the RCMP.

CBC reports that several years ago the RCMP tried to privatize or outsource the administration of it's pension and insurance fund to "save money." OK that's a big red flag right there. A reoccurring problem of fraud is revealed whenever government uses the word privatization to circumvent public accountability. Enron is the prime example. Likewise, the privatization of the RCMP Pension was met with similar misappropriated corruption. Every big corporation wants to get it's greedy little mitts on it's employees pension.

CTV claims the RCMP's human resources branch may have improperly diverted some of the money from the members' insurance fund to shore up other budgets. One blogger claims the RCMP has never been accountable to the public.

If we are going to restore and protect the integrity of the RCMP we need to do so by making it publicly accountable. That doesn't mean make a verbally abusive civilian the RCMP Commissioner. Civilian agencies created to investigate police complaints are essential. Yet a civilian commissioner is like having a civilian general. It doesn't make sense. Elliot is stepping down this summer. John McKay would make a good replacement as would Jim Chu.

To restore and protect the RCMP's integrity we need to:

1) Fix the pension. If money was wasted or borrowed to cover other budgets, replace those funds and report budgets to the public so that kind of misappropriation of funds doesn't happen again.

2) Fix the abusive nature of the administration. The obsession for cover up and the firing of whistle blowers needs to stop. Four officers charged with perjury in the Taser incident is not acceptable. Four officers facing criminal charges relating to one officer's inappropriate relationship with a witness is not acceptable.

3) Implement a civilian agency to monitor police complaints so the few bad apples that are consistently giving civilians the boots get replaced with officers who understand the motto to serve and protect.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Preserving the Integrity of the RCMP



The charges against some of the officers investigating the Surrey Six murder trial are making big news. As a result some are questioning whether or not we should renew our contract with the RCMP. I believe there is no question we should.

Without question the RCMP have taken public hits to their credibility. The Taser death at the airport and the subsequent perjury charges are one. The Kelowna officer kicking a suspect in the face while he was kneeling on the ground is another. That is the same officer who assaulted a driver who he thought was stealing a boat when in reality he was employed to repossessed it. He was driving the company truck but the officer took no time to hear him out.

Although there is a huge problem with a lack of accountability the police have to the public, that problem is by no means limited to the RCMP. The VPD gave the wrong guy the boots. Why the VPD let the Hells Angels sell drugs in East Van is also suspect. The New Westminster use of force trainer was caught abusing his authority while he was drunk off duty and assisting other officers from the Delta and West Van PD beat and rob an innocent victim.

Giving someone like Gordon Campbell his own private army is as frightening as giving someone like Stephen Harper his own private army. It is demonic. Before we make any drastic changes to the status quo we need one conclusive change. We need to implement the civilian agency.

We need a civilian agency that oversees police complaints that is accountable to the public. Smaller agencies have a tendency of forming exclusive old boys clubs. That's not to say the old boys club can't exist federally either. Large cities can and do have their own police force. I personally don't think a Regional Police force is the answer to the accountability problem.

Don't get me wrong, something does need to change. Public accountability needs to be introduced. Before we change from a federal police force to a regional police force we need to establish a civilian agency that overseas all policing in the province. That is conclusive.

I despise the fact that Harper the Liar is cutting funding for the RCMP and the Gang Task force while spending millions on advertising promoting the RCMP brand. It is hollow and hypocritical. Yet I do believe the RCMP have a noble history worth restoring and protecting. We do that through a civilian agency not through a Regional Police force with no public accountability.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

RCMP probes G8 spending



I don't want to be cynical of everyone, much, but I find it interesting that the RCMP would make news investigating the lavish spending of the G-8 fake lake party after the Harper government has dramatically cut funding for the RCMP.

Nevertheless, it doesn't change the fact that spending a vast amount of tax dollars on the lavish G-8 exclusive party is somewhat bizare when they then turn around and dramatically cut funding for the RCMP and the gang task force. In fact, I'd go far as to say that cutting funding for the RCMP and the gang task force after campaigning on a tough on crime platform is simply fraud.

Taking police officers off the street then spending $33 million on advertising to promote the RCMP brand is absolutely bizarre. Welcome to the Harper majority. We will say we told you so because we didn't vote for him.

The RCMP probe appears to be in the President of the Treasury Board's riding Tony Clement. His riding got all the handouts. Yet Clement claims the RCMP probe is just a Liberal PR stunt. Well cutting all the funding for the RCMP wasn't a Liberal PR stunt. The Harper government did that all by themselves. Comparing those cuts on one hand with lavish spending on the other hand is called public accountability and has merit when considering future elections.

The Tories claim they have done nothing wrong but I beg to differ. Cutting funding for the gang task force and taking police officers off the street then spending that money on an exclusive party and advertising is clearly a misappropriation of funds. Didn't Jack Layton say he would spend more money on more police? Isn't it ironic that someone Harper calls a socialist would be tougher on crime than he is. That sounds more like Lyin Brian to me.

What ever happened to that RCMP probe over the $9-million contract for Parliament Hill renovation that was tied to the Hells Angels? Did that ever go anywhere or did they just promote another one of the accused to the Supreme Court?

The RCMP were probing the nature of the relationship between construction firm LM Sauvé and long-time Conservative organizer and business adviser Gilles Varin. Investigators are focusing on lobbying rules and anti-corruption laws. I'm not concerned about the insider trading about how another Conservative insider got another government contract. I'm concerned about what another conservative insider is doing involved with the Hells Angels.

Monday, June 13, 2011

RCMP and Sheriff Cut Backs



Sheriff cut backs have resulted in trial delays and adjournments. "Just days after Attorney General Barry Penner claimed there was no money to pay for more sheriffs for B.C. courts, several cases were adjourned in both Surrey and Vancouver Provincial Courts Monday because of staff shortages."

As one poster pointed out, this is the same time the RCMP are spending more money on advertising to promote their "brand." That sounds so corporate. Cut down on services and spend more money on advertising. Sounds familiar.

The California prisons are in complete turmoil. As a result of the three to a bunk over crowding the courts there ordered them to release one quarter of their prisoners. Only they can't remember who's in for what and aren't releasing the nonviolent offenders first they're accidental releasing violent offenders into the public.

So if our prisons are over crowded and if we are cutting down the services provided by the RCMP, how can we afford to send more people to jail for nonviolent crimes like possession of pot without raising taxes? If we spend that money on sending nonviolent criminals to jail, how can we possibly afford to imprison violent offenders and people who traffic hard drugs like crack or meth?

It really looks like the Harper government has it's priorities somewhat confused. Since the Harper government got elected on a tough on crime promise and since they bungled the anti crime bills and instead introduce an unpatriotic act that removes civil liberties while they cut funding for the RCMP, the Sheriffs and the Gang Task Forces, does that mean we can sue them for breach of contract? Didn't Jack Layton say he'd spend more money on more police? Isn't that ironic.