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: S1

HUNDREDS OF WARRANTS REVIEWED IN PROBE OF POLICE

B.C.'s police complaint commissioner has reviewed hundreds of
Abbotsford police search warrants and found problems that could put at
least 43 cases in jeopardy.

The investigation into the alleged misconduct of 17 Abbotsford
officers, which has led federal prosecutors to launch a review of
relevant cases, and defence lawyers to question if their clients were
unfairly convicted, dates as far back as 2008 and could stretch further.

Rollie Woods, the deputy police complaint commissioner, said Thursday
that hundreds of search warrants have been scrutinized. He could not
provide an exact figure, but said it was more than 500.

Mr. Woods said problems have been found with 43 warrants to
date.

He reiterated that the allegations against the officers are serious in
nature. Earlier this week, when the investigation into 8 per cent of
the force in Abbotsford, known as a gang-crime hot spot, was
announced, Mr. Woods said information sworn for warrants may have been
"misleading or inaccurate."

The chief of police in Abbotsford, a bible-belt suburb about 70
kilometres east of Vancouver, has pointed to the way the officers
handled informants. Information sworn for warrants, particularly in
drug cases, can often come from informants.

Paul Doroshenko, a defence lawyer, said he has already written a
letter to representatives of the Public Prosecution Service of Canada,
asking for information on which cases may have been impacted.

"Public confidence and our ability to defend our clients and people's
ability to deal with this comes down to us knowing who the police
officers are. If we should be putting something on hold, we need to
know," he said in an interview.

John Conroy, also a defence lawyer, raised a similar point, saying
it's difficult to know which of his files he should review without
certainty as to which officers were involved.

"I think most of the defence counsel out here =C2=85 are probably
scratching their heads, saying, 'Well, I wonder if one of my clients
was convicted =C2=85 as a result of misconduct by one of these officers,'
 "
he said in an interview.

Bob Rich, the Abbotsford police chief, has said 10 to 20
investigations have been put on hold as a result of the misconduct
probe.

Chief Rich first learned that one of his officers was allegedly
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.

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, Constable Christopher Nicholson, has
also been charged criminally. He has been suspended from the force
since he was arrested in 2013. His trial is scheduled for next year.

Mr. Woods earlier said more than half of the 148 allegations of
misconduct were against Constable Nicholson. Thursday, he said it was
actually about 40 per cent, or 58 of the 148 allegations.

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 still on duty have been moved off of drug
files as a result of the investigation.

Ward Draper and Jesse Wegenast, who operate The 5 and 2 Ministries, an
Abbotsford street church, in a joint interview said that as the city
has grown so, too, has its drug problem. Smoking, swearing and dressed
all in black, the pair operates the services on a shoestring budget,
giving out blankets, meals, condoms, clean needles and crack pipes to
"hundreds" of downtown Abbotsford's downtrodden. With volunteers, they
offer outreach services at several of the city's drug hubs.

Mr. Wegenast said Abbotsford is caught between "small town charms and
big city issues," including unemployment, poverty and disease. He said
the fact the city's bylaw banning harm-reduction strategies was only
abolished last year is "indicative of how far behind we are in terms
of policy related to addiction, and we're fumbling forward finding our
way."

"It's part of the identity crisis right now: transitioning from sleepy
hollow to a city," Mr. Wegenast said. "We're the fifth largest city in
British Columbia now and I think some of the lag in the innovation and
best practices you'd see in Vancouver is because it's still in transition
=2E

"Abbotsford's trying to get a sense of itself."

Mr. Draper welcomed the review of the Abbotsford police's drug-squad
protocols.

Robert Gordon, a criminology professor at Simon Fraser University,
said an investigation of this magnitude is unlike anything the
Vancouver area has seen.

Even though Abbotsford police have faced serious challenges - the city
was dubbed the murder capital of Canada after recording 11 homicides
in 2009 - Prof. Gordon said evidence must be properly obtained.

"I don't think our criminal justice system is worth compromising," he
said.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt