Pubdate: Thu, 29 Jan 2004 Source: Province, The (CN BC) Copyright: 2004 The Province Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouver/theprovince/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476 Author: Adrienne Tanner TWO OFFICERS FIRED 'I Want To Send A Message To All' About The Stanley Park Beatings: Graham Calling it the most difficult decision of his career, Vancouver Chief Constable Jamie Graham yesterday fired two of the six officers involved in the beatings of a trio of suspected drug dealers in Stanley Park. "I want to send a message to all that there can be no justification for this type of conduct," Graham said. The remaining four constables were suspended for 20 days without pay and ordered to work under strict supervision for the next year. Three of them were also demoted. Graham said that in deciding to retain the four, he considered the fact they had subsequently apologized to the men they arrested and to the citizens of Vancouver. "I, too, wish to apologize to the citizens of Vancouver if the deplorable actions of a few of my police officers have in any way shaken their faith in the Vancouver police," the chief said. He also took the unprecedented step of publicly releasing a 100-page report detailing reasons for his decision on the Vancouver police website. This account of the beatings on Jan. 14, 2003, indicates they were far more severe than portrayed in the agreed statement of facts presented in provincial court in November when the officers pleaded guilty to three counts each of common assault. And just as the judge varied the sentences, Graham said yesterday he thought it proper to vary the discipline. Const. Duncan Gemmell, the most experienced officer on duty that night and the one who led the assaults and then conspired to cover them up, was fired for "inexcusable" conduct, Graham said. Gabriel Kojima, a rookie officer who wielded his police baton during the assaults, escalating the level of violence, was also dismissed. Constables Raymond Gardner, Brandon Steele, Jim Kenney and Chris Cronmiller were given maximum suspensions without pay -- five days for each code-of-conduct violation -- and the first three were demoted. Cronmiller, the most junior of the six, will remain at the lowest rank for an extended time. The firings drew instant -- and opposite -- reactions from the Vancouver Police Union and B.C. Civil Liberties Association. Union president Const. Tom Stamatakis said the two dismissals serve the best interests of neither the public nor police. The officers accepted responsibility for their actions and have already been punished by the courts, said Stamatakis, adding: "They shouldn't have to pay with their careers as well." He said the union will help Kojima and Gemmell exercise their right to a review by the police complaint commissioner. But civil-liberties association president John Russell said after reading the chief's report it is obvious all six officers should have been dismissed. "Five of the six police officers in this case participated in a brutal and premeditated beating of three citizens of Vancouver," he said. "The sixth officer present, the officer in charge, while he did not participate in the beatings, organized and led a coverup of those events." Russell said the case highlights serious problems with the VPD's overuse of its powers to arrest for breaches of the peace. Breaching, as it is called, allows officers to arrest suspected troublemakers and dump them in a remote part of town without charge. He urged Attorney-General Geoff Plant to heed the police-complaint commissioner's call for a public inquiry into the 1998 death of Frank Paul, who died after being dumped in an alley by police who'd been ordered to "breach" him even though he was too drunk to care for himself. In his report, Graham defended "breach" arrests in the Stanley Park case and the policy in general. "It was the non-adherence to the policy and the law which was at issue in Stanley Park, not the law itself," he said. Phil Rankin, the lawyer representing the victims of the assaults in a civil lawsuit, said he is not convinced the officers should be fired. He said he gets dozens of complaints about excessive use of force by police and the actions of these officers were no different. - --- Const. Duncan Gemmell Fired Age: 39. Service: Joined VPD in January 2002 after five years on Regina force. Judge Herbert Weitzel said: "His was a breach of trust at a high level." Sentence: 60-day conditional served at home under nightly curfew, six months' probation and 40 hours' community service. Chief Jamie Graham said: "[Gemmell] delivered the first blow and later wrote a false and misleading report." Const. Gabriel Kojima Fired Age: 23. Service: Out of police academy for less than a year at time of incident. Judge: "In terms of moral blameworthiness, I find his actions to be at a higher level than most of the other defendants." Sentence: 30-day conditional served at home under nightly curfew, six months' probation and 30 hours of community service. Chief: "He degraded the complainants and kicked one of them in the head." Const. Raymond Gardner Suspended and Demoted Age: 32. Service: Joined VPD in 1999. Judge: "[Gardner] was, in my view, a direct participant in each of the three assaults." Sentence: Nine months' probation, 50 hours' community service. Chief: "Deserves a second chance . . . he neither initiated the incident nor used a weapon. He did, however, take part in the violence." Const. Brandon Steele Suspended And Demoted Age: 31. Service: Joined VPD in November 1999. Judge: "Each complainant was vastly outnumbered, five to one . . . The explanation offered is one of being frustrated." Sentence: Suspended sentence, six months' probation and 25 hours of community service. Chief: "While partaking in the violence, he played a relatively minor role in comparison to the two dismissed officers." Const. James Kenney (acting sergeant at time of incident) Suspended And Demoted Age: 34. Service: Joined VPD in 1999. Judge: "[Kenney] bears the lowest level of moral blameworthiness of all the defendants, despite his titular role as the acting sergeant." Sentence: Absolute discharge without conditions. Chief: "I found that his choice not to intervene showed a serious lack of judgment and leadership." Const. Christopher Cronmiller Suspended, Promotion Delayed Age: 27. Service: Started with VPD in November 2002. Judge: "His involvement in the incidents was less than most of the others." Sentence: Conditional discharge, six months' probation and 30 hours' community service. Chief: "While I believe that this officer took part in the assault, I also believe that he neither initiated it nor escalated it." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom