Two Vancouver police officers fired over assaults

[iverglas]

http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/01/28/police_beating040128

VANCOUVER - Two Vancouver police officers have been fired and four others suspended over last year's assault on three suspected drug dealers in Stanley Park, Chief Jamie Graham announced Wednesday.

... Constables Duncan Gemmell and Gabriel Kojima will both lose their jobs, after receiving the stiffest sentences in provincial court.

Gemmell was given a 60-day sentence and Kojima a 30-day sentence, to be served under house arrest.

The other four officers involved in the attack have all been suspended for 20 days, the maximum allowed.

http://vancouver.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=bc_cops_charged20030321

Six Vancouver Police officers have been charged with assault and attempted obstruction of justice in connection with the alleged beating of three suspected drug dealers earlier this year.

It's alleged the constables picked up the three men on the Granville Mall on Jan. 14, drove them to a parking lot in Stanley Park and beat them.

None of the victims – aged 27, 33, and 37 – were seriously injured, but one did take himself to hospital for a cut to the head.

Vancouver police apparently want to supplant Montreal police as the most violent and stupid in the country.

There does seem to be a possibly interesting correlation in these situations. Montreal was long plagued with gang violence and organized crime (biker) activiites, which have somewhat subsided. Vancouver is now experiencing a similar surge in gang-related crime and violence. New York's police were known for their viciousness and stupidity at a time when crime was at its highest, no?

Maybe we need to do a better job of recognizing police frustration in circumstances where they feel increasingly powerless and perhaps isolated, and of finding some way of dealing with it.

Ordinary cops who feel that way are easy pickings for people like the thugs who preside over Toronto's police union, with their attempts to intimidate elected municipal representatives, inflame public opinion against them, and influence elections and undermine public trust in the police's overseers, as said thugs have been doing for some time.

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