Drug related violence and torture in East Van

The police claim the leaders of two independent criminal groups they say used extreme violence and torture to terrorize the Downtown Eastside have been arrested following two separate investigations spanning several months. The headline in the province reads "Cops say vulnerable women in Downtown Eastside safer after two gang leaders arrested."

I have two points. First I'm skeptical. 900 grams of cocaine, 144 grams of heroin, $75,000 worth of cash, 41 grams of pot, one kilogram of ketamine and a handgun. That's hardly a dent.

Compare that with the 600 liters of GHB or the 8 kilograms of cocaine that was seized involving David Giles who walked and the 52 kilograms of cocaine seized from Glen Hehn's storage locker who also walked. Not to mention the boat load of 2 1/2 tons of cocaine that belonged to the Hells Angels with no arrests made. One hand gun? Joseph Bruce Skreptak had more than that in his car. The police found a machine gun dumped in the Fraser River.

Why on earth are the police claiming such a small bust is so large and why on earth are they claiming the gangs are independent? There are no independent gangs in the Vancouver gang war. They said Eric Sandberg was an independent drug dealer too and we know that was absolutely false.

Who on earth is Insp. Mike Porteous? Surely he's not related to Hal Porteous. Don't get me wrong. The Sisters Watch phone line is a good thing: 604-215-4777

I am just very concerned about censoring the real issue and naming the real names. We all know who are supplying the drug dealers at the Carnegie Centre. Let's not sugar coat it by helping with their PR.

The other point I have is the police admission that these gangs are using extreme violence on the most vulnerable including torture. Just like the same group is torturing crack addicts for drug debts in Prince George.

The public rally claimed that Ashley Machiskinic's death was not a suicide. Activists claimed she was pushed out of a hotel window for a drug debt and that she wasn't the only one. It's all reminiscent of the Surrey House of Horrors.

When the public rallies to complain about the drug related violence against women in the DTES and when the police start holding press conferences about drug related violence and torture in East Van, then we know that is the tip of the iceberg and just scratches the surface. It will take a continued vigilant effort to really address the problem. Please proceed.

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I am thrilled the police got that much date rape drug off the street. That was a substantial amount and getting any amount off the street is a good thing. Yet the purpose of the public relations press conference was to seemingly address the public's concerns that were expressed in the Town Hall meeting at the Carnegie centre and the public demonstrations after Ashley Machiskinic's death.

The public want the police to address the drug related violence against women in the DTES. Women are being push out of windows for drug debts. Let's face it. Date rape drug is something a man will buy to slip into a woman's drink. Date rape drug is not something a women gets addicted to then gets pushed out of a window for that drug debt.

Getting any amount of date rape drug off the street is a good thing. However, it does not address the problem it claims to be addressing. That is why the public trusts Jim Chu and why they don't trust the others. Perhaps the old boys club is trying to push Jim Chu to the side because they are afraid of the public backing he has.

We were told Jim Chu promised more town hall meetings. Perhaps the old boys club doesn't want any more town hall meetings because that would force them to address the real issue and stop the sale of drugs outside the very building the town hall meeting was held in.

Perhaps they don't want a civilian agency to monitor police complaints like Jim Chu suggested. Speaking of which, since the Abbotsford police have recommended charges being laid against the Kelowna police officer who was caught on video kicking a suspect in the face, has the Kelowna RCMP followed up on those charges yet or are they waiting for the public to forget about the incident? Kinda hard to do when more people keep coming forward.

First BC Criminal Organization Conviction

Well this is interesting. Two Kelowna residents found guilty of trafficking cocaine were convicted of doing so on behalf of a criminal organization. Finally. Only it was an "unnamed" criminal organization. Huh?

Wait a minute... Thomas Donald Fraser and Jason Jonathon Herrick — were involved in a cocaine-trafficking conspiracy linked to a unnamed criminal organization. How can they be convicted of trafficking cocaine for a criminal organization if the organization was not named? I'm a wee bit confused here.

After all this was the high profile case that police allege used the Kelowna Marina as its hub of operations for multi-kilogram cocaine transactions during peak tourist season.

In one of the intercepted phone calls between the two men, Fraser phones Herrick and orders him to “bring some s**t” to “the clubhouse.” With loud music in the background, Fraser tells him the address is 837 Ellis Street, the property known locally as the Hells Angels clubhouse.

So if Fraser and Herrick were convicted of trafficking cocaine on behalf of a criminal organization and they had cocaine delivered to the Hells Angels clubhouse, I wonder which unnamed criminal organization was behind it?

There was a body found under the dock there wasn't there? It wasn't just floating in the lake it was under the dock. No foul play is expected? That's strange.

Hey wait a minute. Richard Goldammer owns the clubhouse. He has a bayliner doesn't he? We know Russell Penner does. I wonder if they ever use that Marina?

Blair Tanino

During Const. Jeffrey Klassen's assault trial the judge questioned why a third officer involved was not charged. Good question. B.C. Provincial Court Judge Jodie Werier said that Tanino also "entered the fray" and got on top of Khan. "Tanino got involved," Werier said. "I'm troubled about that." Me too. The prosecution said "He probably could be prosecuted for assault, [But] frankly, he was probably more valuable as a witness." I see.

Shane Bunting's Lip Stick

Speaking of swingers who swing the other way, how about this photo of wee Shane Bunting sporting the latest shade of Battle Axe Warrior lip stick? Whatever dude. I know I'm behind the times and out of style. I have trouble with the Meryl Norman eyebrows not to mention lip stick. But hey, who am I to stand in the way of a new fad? Maybe lipstick is in along with the emo mascara.

Is that little freak trying to bring in lip injections for men? Pucker up Battle axe Barbie. No wonder those idiots wear silk scarfs to hide their lips stick and botox. Come to think of it, that Battle Axe Barbie support shirts looks an awful lot like the Pinhead bowling crew's logo so it does.

Looks like the little Barbie boy was banned from the US because of his associations with the Hells Angels. That's interesting. I wonder if Sony Barger is banned from the US? Maybe it's just 'cause he was an oxy and Viagra junkie.

What do you mean Shane Bunting and the Swollen members played at Tbarz New Years? You have got to be kidding. That guy is a complete idiot. How on earth did he get out of Surrey alive with that lip stick on? That little guy is a freak.

Tbarz has sure gone down hill these days. Ever since Russel Peters gave his pal Randy Jones that flaming endorsement for Tbarz it's full of old married brown men hitting on young girls. Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against making it a brown town. This is Surrey. We are multi cultural. I just think that dirty old drunken married men hitting on young girls from any race is pathetic. The girls who aren't paid to be there leave pretty quick when they see what it's become.

Think about it. What kind of a gangster registers his strip bar in his mother's name? The same one who gets a complete idiot like CJ Spoon to find girls for him. Lame.

Chad Karylchuk‏

Chad Karylchuk‏ passed suddenly Saturday January 15, 2011. Adam Scorgie and Sanj Parmar were co-applicants to city council selling them some kool aid about Cheetahs.

So if everybody claims Chad sold drugs, surely everyone knows who his supplier was. It is very easy for someone starting oxy to od. Yet we are told he was familiar with the drug. Is there something more to the story that someone's not telling us? With friends like that...

The Red Herring Pickton inquiry

Well the Wally Oppal Red Herring Pickton inquiry continues. Wally insists that he's not in a conflict of interest heading the inquiry even though he has been tied to the BC judicial system for so many years and said it was just fine. Activists in the East Van town hall meeting disagree and say they don't support him heading the inquiry.

I realize everyone is upset with the police these days and wants to blame them for delaying their feet in the Pickton investigation which resulted in the murder of more women. Yes they likely dropped the ball on that issue. However, the real issue isn't finding another scape goat to blame the atrocities on. The real issue is finding Pickton's accomplices.

It was the Crown that suggested Pickton did not act alone. His lawyer complained in the appeal and said the whole time the Crown's case was that Robert Pickton acted alone and was the mastermind that eluded police for so long in keeping all the murders secret. Then all of a sudden, right before deliberations the judge told the jury they could convict Robert even if he didn't act alone but was an active participant in the murders.

Indeed that opened a whole can of worms that is not being addressed at all by the Wally Oppal Red Herring Inquiry. Which really comes as no surprise. No doubt Wally would have done a great job for the Liberals overseeing the BC Rail scandal.

Interesting to note that according to Deputy Chief Doug LePard every officer involved in a management role during the investigation of Vancouver’s missing women in the late 1990s while serial killer Robert Pickton picked up women in the Downtown Eastside has retired. He claims "Mistakes were made and there are police officers who will be haunted by them for the rest of their lives.” Oh brother, not another scape goat. When will it end?

The retired officers have stated that they will cooperate with the inquiry. Do ya think if they weren't going to cooperate they would actually say so? What if they were under some sort of gag order? Would they be able to break the gag order for the inquiry or do they mean they will cooperate with the inquiry as best they can without breaking the gag order? Please advise.

Was there movie making equipment found on the farm? Yes or No. What happened to that evidence?

Pickton case in the news.

Cocaine seized in Salmon Arm

Police seized seven kilos of cocaine hidden in a subwoofer during a routine traffic stop in Salmon arm. Interesting. Why was Hells Angel Joseph Bruce Skreptak speeding through Salmon Arm not long a go with a car load of weapons and a cell phone jammer along with Cory Montemurro and a few associates? Skreptak also faced charges of aggravated assault and break and enter in a separate case in Kelowna.

Constable Geoff Mantler

Turns out that the Kelowna police officer who kicked the compliant suspect in the face was the same police officer that dragged a guy out of his truck and punched him in the head: Constable Geoff Mantler.







In the second case it was another mistake. The suspect had repossessed a boat for the company he worked for. The company's logo was on the back window of the truck he was driving. The officer punched the suspect in the head a couple of times while he was strapped in his seat belt, then punched him a couple more times in the head while he was on the ground with his hands behind his back. The next day the suspects tooth fell out. He had a black eye and abrasions to his face where the officer was grinding it into the concrete.

This is the same officer who made another mistake and arrested someone for discharging a firearm at a golf course. The suspect had a permit for the weapon and was employed to discharge it to scare away geese. Constable Geoff Mantler kicked the compliant suspect in the face while he was kneeling on the ground.

The NDP Leadership Race

I'm not really concerned with the BC Liberal leadership race as it all looks like more of the same to me. They all supported Campbell and they all supported the HST knowing the electorate were against it. They are all limp fish on crime.

I am disappointed in the Carol James coo but Mike Farnworth or Adrian Dix, that's a tough call. I have seen both in the front lines in the community actively involved in public safety issues. Both nobly stood by Carol James during the dirty deed. Seeing them run against each other is kinda surprising but I certainly don't see it as a toxic mudslinging race. I see it as democracy in action.

I'm slightly concerned that Mike Farnworth support the new seize your car after two drinks law which is overburdening our policing while people are allowed to sell and smoke crack in public. I think that is disproportionate. I'm also concerned federally that Jack Layton made a pledge to reduce the HST as though he supports the HST.

Yet there is a bizarre stereotype that I would like to address. I remember Preston Manning tried to get us to look beyond the left and right and look at the issues. That vision fell when they acted on a typo and changed unite the bright to unite the right and merged with Mulroneyism the very toxic force the set out to reform.

Anyways, let's put our blinders back on and look at the left and right stereotypes as presented in a recent letter to the editor published in the Vancouver Province. The guy goes off on the Marxist name calling and tried to discredit Adrian Dix for his Marxist belief in the redistribution of wealth. Oh my goodness.

I support the Canadian model for medicare and I am not a Marxist. Turning someone away from medical aid because they can't afford it is not the hallmarks of a civilized society in my mind. I believe in less government. I believe in individual rights. I also believe in collective ideals. Those ideals were touched upon in the Irish Proclamation which gave rise to their Declaration of Independence.

OK one of the signers of that proclamation was a Communist, James Connolly. But he was a good guy. He was an idealist who not only gave his life for the vision of the collective but also for individual rights and freedoms the Capitalists wrongfully claim monopoly on.

I remember attending a function where NDP MLA Joan Smallwood spoke. I was kinda skeptical at first but listened to what she had to say. I was surprised to hear her speak out against the human rights violations of Communist China. I thought Marxists turned a blind eye to that as the end justifies the means. Here she was speaking as a New Democrat who did indeed believe in democracy.

In fact her discourse was about the dangers of NAFTA being expanded in the MAI which has since been replaced by TILMA and how those trade agreements go far beyond trade agreements. They give up individual rights and freedoms in a democratic society and threaten our sovereignty as a nation. Free trade is fine but why on earth create a legal document saying it is illegal for any level of government to make a law that inhibits a Corporation's ability to make a profit? The implications are insane.

Under TILMA a corporation could sue the government for making a law that protects the environment because that would inhibit their ability to make a profit. There is much written about these frightening trade agreements but I submit that it is the right, under the lie that they are representing freedom and individual rights who are in reality selling out our freedom and our individual rights to the big corporate machine which is the new beast that has began to enslave mankind.

OK my point is, let's get rid of the stereotypes and talk about the issues. Calling Adrian Dix a Marxist because he is a member of the NDP is no longer believable. You can fool some of the people some of the time but you can't fool all of the people all of the time. Personally, I'm also very interested in the Conservative leadership race in BC. The one that Bill Vandersalm is kick starting.

I still say if we lay the name calling and the false stereotypes aside and look at the issues a Conservative / NDP minority government would find that magical balance between fiscal responsibility and social justice. Wouldn't that be nice?

The Old Boys Club

Let me be clear about one thing. I am not anti police. I am very pro police. That is why I am so protective of that agency. It is a sacred duty that should not be tarnished with ego or corruption.

I aspire to something higher. I aspire to the likes of Canadian soldiers who put their lives on the line but remain pure. They are military but see themselves as a service to civilians. Soldiers like Trevor Greene or William Turner.

Trevor Greene was the Canadian soldier who was attacked from behind with an axe in Afghanistan. People criticized him for letting himself become vulnerable by taking off his helmet and sitting down to dialogue with local Afghan Elders. I say that's what makes Canadian soldiers different. They don't aspire to be cruel bullies. They aspire to be genuine peacekeepers. Trever Greene didn't err in what he did. His fellow soldiers should have been watching his back. That's what it's all about.

Some people aspire to the brutality of war. What with all the Rambo movies and the video games out there people aspire to be brutal conquerors. Yet that is not what Canadian peacekeeping is all about. William Turner was a Canadian soldier from Afghanistan who was killed by a land mine. In his eulogy they said he was the type of guy who would come with his weapon in military attire smile and say, Hi my name is Bill. I'm here to help.



You can't get a better Canadian ideal than that. These men lived the ideal and died for it. When we let corruption and brutality enter our own home and native land then we are in essence pissing on a good soldier's grave and that is not acceptable. We are mocking their noble sacrifice.



In contrast to the old boys club I submit the real men's club. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. That is the ideal we should aspire to.

One of the fundamental problems that I see reoccurring with the ongoing police brutality in Canada right now is the concept of having to instantly obey a direct command. "Drop down and give me twenty soldier!" Oh but wait, they're not soldiers, they're civilians. We have been commissioned to serve them and protect them. Their taxes pay our salary.

Another problem is that the RCMP training is still using the old ways of verbal abuse. This needs to change. We need to rise above the old ways and implement something higher. Physically challenging but mentally uplifting.

In all fairness to the Canadians, I did see a YouTube video that demonstrates my concerns with a few American police officers. There was a nudist at some kind of public gathering near a beach. It looked like he had a few drinks and took off his bathing trunks. I didn't see any children present. The police ask him to put his bathing suite on and he said no. He was not violent and was not threatening anyone else. In fact one woman came up to him and shook his hand for standing up to the police. It was either very cold or he wasn't very well endowed shall we say.

The police get pissed because they're loosing face so three fat cops physically fight with him and try and force him to put his bathing suit back on. That wasn't very bright. Even if they succeeded he would have just taken it off again. If they really wanted to push the issue they could have cuffed him without taking him down and arrested him calmly and quietly for indecent exposure. Once they had the cuffs on they could have then thrown a blanket over him. But no, a simple situation went bad. Very bad.

They pull out the infamous taser. Not the cattle prong taser but the kind that shoots an electrode into someone so they can crank up the electricity continuously like back in the days of shock therapy. They guy is on the ground on his back. The taser is in him and they crank the electricity through his body. As a result his body starts convulsing rapidly and he looks like he's having a seizure. One of the officers yells on your stomach! He either didn't hear the command because at that point he was completely out of touch with reality having a seizure or the electricity running through his body made it impossible for him to control his movements and roll over on his stomach as per their request.

The officer gets really mad that he's not obeying a direct command and they all jump on him while they start tasering him over and over again in the chest as punishment for not obeying their direct command. I kid you not. It was absolutely bizarre and a clear miss use of the weapon. Like we haven't seen that happen in Canada before.

The police need to remember they are talking to civilians not soldiers when they start yelling their direct orders. The stereotype has been in the past, if you have done something wrong the police will pull you over and yell out, get out of the car with your hands up. Then they will instruct you up against the wall and assume the position wherein the suspect is expected to put their hands on the car and spread their feet so they may be searched and handcuffed.

Now it appears the expectation is for the suspect to go on the ground to be handcuffed. In the Abbotsford incident we see two police officers arresting two suspects. They yell their command for the suspects to get down on the ground. One of them is very nervous. He's on the ground on his back with his head raised slightly to see and his hands in the air as if to say don't shoot. The other suspect is on the ground on his stomach with his head raised slightly. The cop yells on the ground I said. No doubt the suspect thinks to himself, what the hell I am on the ground. No completely on the ground the bad cop thinks as he then stomps on the guys head so it too is completely on the ground. That was and is absurd. There is no question about it. No committee decision can change that.



Likewise we have one of the Kelowna incidents. Police respond to a shots fired call which is indeed serious. Although it turned out in reality it was not serious at all. Nevertheless, the police yell at the suspect to get out of the car which he does. They command him to get on the ground instead of putting his hands on the car so he gets down on the ground and kneels in front of them. The cop yells out I said get on the ground. The guy thinks to himself, I am on the ground. Then he bows down and puts his hands on the ground as if to say is this better. That's when the cop kicks him in the face. That was a completely unnecessary assault and was yet another example of bad policing making a bad arrest.



How can we train other police forces internationally if we can't train our own? These aren't soldiers we're dealing with they are civilians who we are supposed to be protecting who are innocent until proven guilty. The obsession with yelling out direct commands with the expectation that those commands are to be followed at the snap of a finger needs to change. If it's an armed suspect with a gun in his hand after he has just shot someone perhaps but not for every arrest.

New Westminster Const. Jeffrey Klassen claimed in court he was on top of the victim slapping and poking him while yelling arrest orders. Aside from being a liar because several witnesses saw him on top of the victim punching him in the head, he has no right as an off duty police officer to be on top of someone he did not see commit a crime hitting him and yelling arrest orders. Especially when he is drunk and unfit for duty even if he was on duty which he was not. He was helping a fellow off duty officer assault and rob an innocent civilian in an unprovoked attack.

Clearly this ongoing obsession to hit people and yell direct orders at them has become an accepted arrest procedure and needs to stop. We have lost the ideal and have become the very bullies we send our troops in to defend civilians from.

The other problem is perhaps the police's frustration with the horrible judicial system we have in BC. They know the suspect even if guilty is not going to be punished in court so they take it upon themselves to take the law into their own hands and punish the suspect by punching him or by giving him the boots. That needs to change because sometimes they get the wrong door or beat up innocent people. That leads us to the other Kelowna incident where a cop starts punching a compliant suspect for stealing a boat when he was doing his job repossessing it. Ooops, they did it again.

I remember arguing with an east van activist about police brutality. He was going on and on about it and I said bullshit. He said he'd send me an affidavit from Pivot Legal in east van documenting cases of police brutality. I said yeah testimony from a bunch of crackheads. He said just read it. I had a look at the affidavit and the first witness to my shock was an RCMP officer.

The officer was undercover in east van. The Vancouver police shout out to him as he was crossing the street. They were yelling something about jay walking. The undercover officer didn't ant to blow his cover so he gives them the finger. Then the police take him aside and beat the shit out of him. I was somewhat surprised and thought well that was a credible witness. All the new cases coming to light show a real problem that needs to be addressed. And yes, I agree with Jim Chu in that a civilian agency to deal with police complaints is the solution. "To Serve and Protect."