Pubdate: Wed, 17 Dec 2003
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2003 The Vancouver Sun
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Lori Culbert

OFFICERS SHOULD GET 90 DAYS FOR PARK BEATINGS, CROWN SAYS

Penalty Should Reflect Violation Of 'The Public Trust'

VANCOUVER - Six members of the Vancouver police department who pleaded 
guilty to assaulting three men in Stanley Park should be given sentences of 
30 to 90 days to assure the public that officers are held to account if 
they act improperly, Vancouver provincial court was told Tuesday.

"In essence, the citizens of Vancouver are entitled to and do expect proper 
behaviour of their police officers," said Crown counsel Robert Gourlay.

"The police officers should suffer a significant penalty for violating the 
citizens' trust."

The six officers, who each have less than five years experience, pleaded 
guilty last month to common assault after three men were picked up in 
January during a suspected drug deal on the Granville Mall, and then taken 
to Stanley Park, where they were roughed up.

Gourlay said the conduct suggests "the officers [took] the enforcement of 
the law into their own hands."

Defence lawyers said at the officers' sentencing hearing that the six made 
a mistake and are remorseful. They argued a conditional discharge -- which 
would not give the men a criminal record -- and community service would be 
appropriate sentences.

The officers, who sat stone-faced through the hearing, are Christopher 
Cronmiller, 31, Raymond Gardner, 31, Duncan Gemmell, 38, Gabriel Kojima, 
24, James Kenney, 33, and Brandon Steele, 30.

"Although the officers acted badly and unlawfully at the park, and there is 
no doubt about that, there was no intent to inflict bodily harm," said 
David Crossin, who is representing Kojima.

He said the accused did not take the law into their own hands, nor did they 
bring the victims -- Barry Lawrie, 34, Jason Desjardins, 28, and Grant 
Wilson, 37 -- to Stanley Park to beat them.

Crossin said the officers were following a Vancouver police policy that 
allows trouble-makers to be driven to another area of the city and dropped 
off, in lieu of making arrests in minor disturbances.

He said the officers spoke to the victims about their criminal activities, 
but "lost their cool." However, Crossin added the assaults were minor and 
not premeditated, and that the only injuries were three small abrasions on 
one man's forehead.

The six defence lawyers at the hearing said the incident was out of 
character for their clients, and presented letters of reference from senior 
officers and members of the community.

But Gourlay argued a conditional discharge "would not adequately reflect 
the seriousness of the incident and assure that police officers abide by 
their duty and not participate in incidents like this."

He added a fine wouldn't be appropriate because the officers, who have been 
suspended with pay since last January, had already suffered "significant 
financial disadvantages."

Gourlay called for a sentence of 30 to 90 days, and said the judge could 
determine if it should be served in jail or the community. But he said 
changes to the Criminal Code make jail "a last resort" in such cases.

Richard Peck, representing Gardner, said the officers have already been 
punished severely in the court of public opinion, and a criminal record is 
not required to send a message of deterrence.

Peck argued the three victims in the case had more than 100 criminal 
convictions between them and were known to the officers. Wilson was picked 
up earlier that evening by some of the accused.

"That is the kind of people they're dealing with, and that is where the 
frustration arises," Peck said.

He said it is frustrating for the officers to deal with people with no 
dignity and to feel they have failed local merchants by not keeping the 
streets safe.

Peck read a statement from his client, in which Gardner said he became 
frustrated in Stanley Park when one of the men didn't appear to care what 
his criminal activities were doing to the neighbourhood. Gardner said he 
then "impulsively" joined his colleagues in pushing the other two victims, 
but later felt ashamed.

Kenney, who was the senior officer with 4.5 years of experience, did not 
berate or touch anyone in the incident, but also didn't put a stop to it. 
His lawyer, Kevin Woodall, said Kenney felt badly that he didn't set a 
better example that evening.

Later that day, Gemmell filed an inaccurate, "false and misleading" police 
report about the incident, Gourlay said. The truth was not revealed for 
nine days, until a rookie officer riding with Kenney reported the assaults.

Woodall said Kenney has apologized for his role in the beatings and has 
already been punished to a degree by the media, adding it is "impossible to 
walk through the phalanx of media with any shred of dignity."

In victim impact statements Gourlay read to the court, Lawrie said, in 
part, "I still get sick every time I hear a siren, I get panic attacks 
every time I see a police car or a uniform. This last year has been hell."

Wilson wrote: "I am scared stiff about seeing these individuals in the future."

The officers face a disciplinary hearing next year, in which they will find 
out if they can keep their jobs.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart