Pubdate: Fri, 07 Apr 2006 Source: Edmonton Journal (CN AB) Copyright: 2006 The Edmonton Journal Contact: http://www.canada.com/edmonton/edmontonjournal/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/134 Author: Chris Purdy FORMER CITY COP JOINED 'DARK SIDE,' COURT TOLD EDMONTON - A former city police sergeant turned private investigator joined the "dark side" when he was allegedly hired by a law firm to track down a confidential police source in a drug case, then asked a police officer he was friends with to drop the charges, the officer testified in court. "I couldn't understand how a person with his experience... could harm, could try to expose a source," Sgt. Kevin Brezinski said Thursday. "That's what I refer to as the dark side." Ross Barros, a member of the Edmonton Police Service for 27 years, was charged in 2005 with two counts of extortion and attempting to obstruct justice in the case of Ifran Qureshi. Qureshi is awaiting trial on numerous drug and weapons charges. A preliminary hearing is now underway before provincial court Judge David McNab to determine if there is enough evidence against Barros to proceed to trial. In an unusual move, lawyers did not request a publication ban on the proceedings. An accused is not required to call evidence at a preliminary hearing. Brezinski, a member of the police Integrated Response to Organized Crime unit, testified he was golfing with Barros in May 2005 when Barros said he had identified the police informant in the Qureshi case. Brezinski said Barros told him: "This is bad for me and bad for you." Brezinski testified Barros said he had been hired by defence lawyer Sid Tarrabain, but Tarrabain didn't want to know the source's name. Brezinski said Barros then implied the charges in the case should be dropped and said a group of men believed to be associates of Qureshi had offered to hand over some guns as part of the deal. Brezinski said he asked Barros how he could do such a thing. "He said, 'What do you expect, the way the police service treated me?' " Barros was having difficulties with a superior officer when he retired from the police force in 2001, said Brezinski. Brezinski testified he refused to help Barros that day and told him they were no longer friends. Under cross-examination by defence lawyer Peter Royal, Brezinski said he has previously been approached outside court, before trials start, by defence lawyers claiming they know the names of police sources in hopes of having charges dropped against their clients. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman