Pubdate: Fri, 27 Jul 2012
Source: Windsor Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2012 The Windsor Star
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/501
Author: Dalson Chen

SIU CLEARS DRUG RAID COP OF ASSAULT

The province's Special Investigations Unit has cleared Windsor police 
in the case of a house painter who suffered a broken wrist and jaw in 
a drug raid six years ago.

In a statement released Thursday, the SIU said that "there are no 
reasonable grounds to charge a Windsor Police Service officer in 
relation to the injuries sustained by 33-year-old Jeffrey Robinson in 
January of 2006."

The announcement comes after the failure of Robinson's $750,000 civil 
lawsuit against Windsor police. He'd attempted to sue eight officers 
and the police services board for injuries that included a fractured 
right wrist, a fractured jaw and abrasions on his head.

Earlier this month, Superior Court Justice Bruce Thomas dismissed 
Robinson's claim. Although the injuries weren't disputed, the judge 
decided that they weren't caused by excessive force on the part of police.

The incident happened on the night of Jan. 10, 2006. Robinson had 
just finished painting the basement of a residence in the 3600 block 
of Queen Street. He didn't live at the address, and there were people 
in the house he didn't know.

Around 8 p.m., officers in tactical gear stormed the place - 
described by the judge as "a residence where crack cocaine 
trafficking was taking place."

Four people on the first floor were arrested and 374 grams of 
marijuana and more than $2,400 cash were seized.

Robinson was leaving a basement bathroom when he was confronted by an officer.

Const. Peter Hladki ordered Robinson to get down on the floor.

According to Robinson, his injuries were the result of officers 
beating and kicking him while he was down.

But Thomas decided that Robinson's explanation was "unlikely," and 
that the injured wrist was more probably caused by Robinson being 
pushed down by Hladki.

"The question here is a simple one," Thomas wrote in his decision. 
"Was the force applied by Hladki ... objectively reasonable, 
particularly considering the rather significant injuries that resulted?"

Thomas said it's important to remember that the tactical team was 
conducting a raid, and had a warrant that relied upon "sworn evidence 
of the presence of cocaine and guns in the residence of a known 
violent criminal."

Thomas acknowledged that Robinson was complying with Hladki's order 
when Hladki pushed him.

But Thomas said that "officers engaged in this type of activity 
should not have their efforts held up to a standard of perfection or 
be paralyzed in that split second by an attempt to calculate the 
precise amount of force necessary to effect their purpose."

Thomas concluded that the police officer's actions were "entirely reasonable."

SIU director Ian Scott said he agreed with Thomas's findings, "in 
particular, his assessments around the reasonableness of the force 
used by the subject officer."

However, Scott noted that Windsor police informed SIU about the case 
only in May of this year - more than six years after the incident.

Scott criticized the "very lengthy delay" and said Windsor police 
should have notified SIU immediately once Robinson's injuries became apparent.

"I trust the new leadership at the police service will continue to 
work to ensure that failures in the duty to promptly report incidents 
to the SIU are a thing of a the past," Scott said.

Acting police Chief Al Frederick said Windsor police did not inform 
SIU immediately because the extent of Robinson's injuries weren't 
known. "When I became aware ... we made the call."
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