Vancouver police break laws in policing the poor

CNEWS ^ | October 29, 2002 | Dene Moore

[kari72]

Vancouver police break laws in policing the poor: report

VANCOUVER (CP) - City police routinely break the law and abuse the very rights they are supposed to protect in the country's poorest postal code, says a report released Tuesday.

The conduct of Vancouver police in the drug ghetto of the Downtown Eastside meets the legal definition of abuse of authority and, in 12 cases, met the United Nations definition of torture, according to the Pivot Legal Society. "A police culture that ignores, if not permits, police misconduct makes us all potential victims and condones police practices that demean both the victims and the officers themselves," said John Richardson, executive director of the society, a legal advocacy group based in the neighbourhood.

Of 50 sworn statements collected by the society over nine months, six people said they suffered broken bones or teeth at the hands of police. Eight others said they were beaten after they had surrendered or were even in handcuffs.

Thirty-six people said police used unreasonable force and seven said they were subjected to illegal strip searches.

Seven people said police ordered them out of town or out of a specific area, playing "judge and jury right on the street."

Det. Scott Driemel, spokesman for the department, said the force has not received a copy of the report and could not comment on the allegations until they have.

He would not say how many complaints the department receives annually, but that people with complaints should come forward so a thorough investigation can take place.

"Just because some of these people have signed an affidavit, of course, an investigation would reveal whether or not, in fact, those complaints are bona fide or not," Driemel said.

According to Pivot, in seven cases witnesses were ordered to leave or were threatened.

Jill Weiss, head of the Canadian Pelvic Inflammatory Disease Society and former chairwoman of the B.C. Coalition of Persons with Disabilities, said she and a friend were driving through the neighbourhood in August when they saw three uniformed police officers beating a man.

They stopped, as did several others.

"I was shocked by what I saw, especially by a police officer holding someone down while another police officer hit him repeatedly," Weiss said.

She was just as shocked at what happened next.

"The smaller police officer. . . crouched sort of over on the ground with his back to me, and then, with no warning he turned suddenly and he pepper-sprayed us all," Weiss said.

The report is another blow to city police, who have been accused of ignoring the disappearances of 63 women from the neighbourhood. Accused serial killer Robert William Pickton has been charged with the murders of 15 of those women.

So far two families have launched lawsuits against the city and its police force.

Cameron Ward, a lawyer and social justice advocate, said he used to be skeptical about accusations of mistreatment by police.

Then he was arrested during a visit by Prime Minister Jean Chretien in August. Ward said he was strip-searched and held in jail for five hours.

"I think a spotlight has to be shone on the internal workings of this police department," he said.

He filed a complaint with the provincial Police Complaints Commission but he's heard nothing.

The Pivot society demanded a public inquiry and changes to the complaint process.

The department essentially investigates itself, says the society.

The complaints commission, which recently dumped its commissioner after allegations he was too cozy with police, is inaccessible and subject to bias, says the report.

Justice for Girls, an advocacy group for female youth, joined the call for a public inquiry, saying they too have received reports of brutality against homeless teenaged girls.

"We are appalled and alarmed by the level of violence that girls describe to us," Joanna Butowski, a project manager for the groups, said in a statement.

They are particularly concerned about violence against aboriginal girls, she said.

Richardson said the criminalization of drug addiction is partly to blame for the violence, pointing out that 30 per cent of the area population suffers from addiction.

Having to enforce laws criminalizing drug addicts must breed frustration, he said.