Pubdate: Fri, 20 Feb 2015 Source: Globe and Mail (Canada) Copyright: 2015 The Globe and Mail Company Contact: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168 Authors: Sunny Dhillon and Mike Hager Page: A1 B.C. POLICE FACE MISCONDUCT INVESTIGATION Probe of 17 Abbotsford Officers Targets Use of Informants That Police Complaint Commissioner Fears May Have Led to Unfair Prosecutions Seventeen police officers in the British Columbia city of Abbotsford - - once known as the "murder capital of Canada" for its gang wars - are being investigated for misconduct, with their chief pointing at how the officers handled informants. The allegations against 8 per cent of the Abbotsford force are being investigated by British Columbia's Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner. The commissioner, in a surprise statement Wednesday, said he is concerned the force's conduct may have led to unfair prosecutions and put cases at risk. The Abbotsford police chief says 10 to 20 investigations have been put on hold pending the outcome of the misconduct probe. The Public Prosecution Service of Canada, which tries federal criminal offences, said it has initiated a review of the cases. Rollie Woods, British Columbia's deputy police complaint commissioner, said information sworn for Abbotsford police search warrants - which can often come from informants - may have been "misleading or inaccurate." "The fear would be that if the search warrant was flawed, and evidence was gained as a result of that search warrant and that was used subsequently to prosecute someone - the term that the Public Prosecution Service uses is that would be an unsafe conviction. That's one of the aspects that we're looking into," Mr. Woods said in an interview. The 148 allegations of misconduct against the 17 officers fall under the B.C. Police Act. They include corrupt practice, deceit and neglect of duty. One of the officers has also been charged criminally. Abbotsford Police Department Chief Bob Rich first learned that one of his officers allegedly may have been involved in criminal activity after the chief was approached by two other members of the force. Chief Rich asked the Vancouver Police Department to investigate, and Constable Christopher Nicholson was arrested and charged in May of 2013. The Crown alleged in an indictment that Constable Nicholson lied multiple times to fellow officers and attempted to obstruct justice by counselling two citizens in two separate incidents. The Crown alleged he asked a woman to remove a Facebook post, and a man to destroy other evidence. Mr. Nicholson faces three counts of breach of trust, six counts of attempting to obstruct justice and one count of unsafe storage of a firearm. He is scheduled to go on trial next year. He has been suspended from the force without pay. The Vancouver police investigation into Constable Nicholson raised additional concerns, which were shared with the complaint commissioner. A subsequent investigation was ordered by the commissioner in August, 2013. Headed by the chief of the New Westminster Police Department, the investigation led to allegations of misconduct against Constable Nicholson and 16 other Abbotsford officers. Mr. Woods said more than half of the 148 allegations of misconduct are against Constable Nicholson. Chief Rich said his officers are frustrated with the pace of the misconduct investigation. He said he believes they could already have been cleared. He said the department recognized that it needed to overhaul the way it handled informants and had Vancouver police conduct an audit. He said Abbotsford police have implemented Vancouver's recommendations. Chief Rich said every member of the organization is being given more information on informant handling, and the department is trying to be "more professional" in that respect. Abbotsford, located about 70 kilometres east of Vancouver, recorded 11 homicides in 2009 - the highest in the country on a per capita basis. Most were gang-related. The number of homicides has dropped in recent years, however. About a dozen of the 17 officers under investigation were with the department's drug squad in 2009, when the force began its crackdown on violent gangs. The officers have been moved off of drug files as a result of the investigation. B.C. Justice Minister Suzanne Anton said she was concerned to learn of the allegations, but is "very confident" the complaint commissioner will handle the investigation properly. She would not comment further, given the ongoing misconduct investigation and the impending trial of Constable Nicholson. A spokesperson for the Public Prosecution Service said it was aware of the complaint commissioner's investigation, has launched a review of related cases and has "begun taking steps to address" the matter. Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun, in an interview, said he was under the impression the misconduct involved "more the dotting of i's and crossing of t's" than serious and systemic issues. The statement from the police complaint commissioner said it had not been able to "properly perform its oversight role" due to the lack of adequate disclosure from the investigating police departments. It said the delay was due to the "sheer magnitude of the investigative materials," as well as the complexity of the investigation. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom