3395 replies to this topic

[Matt R.]

I think half of those work in oak bay on violent crimes, no?

[Mike K.]

You might be quite right.

[Victoria Watcher]

Vancouver police officers have ratified a new contract that will see them take home the healthiest paycheques in the country, Global News has learned.

 

Sources say members of the Vancouver Police Union voted overwhelmingly to support the proposed deal, with 97 per cent approval.

 

Police officers will see a 4.5 per cent wage increase each year in the two-year deal.

 

That pay structure will see a first-class officer earn about $122,000 per year.

 

 

 

https://globalnews.c...ource=@globalbc

 

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 08 December 2023 - 09:36 PM.

[Matt R.]

That does not sound like a job I’d want for $120k.

I suppose I might feel differently as a 25 year old man.

Oh edit again, that rank is what a detective is. That means beat cops make less.

Edited by Matt R., 09 December 2023 - 12:29 AM.

[pontcanna]

Oh edit again, that rank is what a detective is. That means beat cops make less.

 

The VanPD website indicates the following (obviously more following the current settlement):

 

"Our starting salary is $77,983, and grows to $111,709 within four years." I believe you can keep ascending the pay scales after four years, even while remaining a patrol constable. Have to seek out the actual collective agreement to say for sure.

[Matt R.]

Better be a gold plated pension.

[todd]

“Vancouver police pilot with body-worn cameras launching in January”: https://globalnews.c...as-january/amp/



“If you try walking in my shoes”: https://youtu.be/lok...wv06JuiB3ZgPYS4

Edited by todd, 09 December 2023 - 04:56 PM.

[Mike K.]

Does this mean anyone can FOI an incident with police where video was recorded and retained, then publicly display that video? There has been a huge proliferation of police body worn camera videos on Youtube and various social media sites. Imagine having a bad day, ending up dealing with police, and having the incident shared all over social media. That doesn't seem like something that should be possible, and yet it's happening every day, with so many videos going viral.

[pontcanna]

ROADSIDE STAND

 

Inside the season’s crusade against impaired driving

 

• Times Colonist
• 10 Dec 2023
• 

Const. Sandra Bauch of Saanich police said her favourite part of the night was handing out candies to the kids in flagged-down vehicles. She said drivers would often thank police officers for their work and share stories, unprompted, of people in their lives who have been killed by an impaired driver.

 

With the flashing lights of close to a dozen police cruisers, the police roadblock at the Quadra Street highway overpass was hard to miss from the Pat Bay Highway. About two dozen officers set up the roadblock last Saturday night, flagging down about 2,000 cars, handing out free coffee gift certificates to drivers who passed a breathalyzer test and issuing tickets until about 10:15 p.m.

 

After pizza at the Saanich detachment, police moved the operation to Highway 1 later in the night, wrapping up around 2 a.m.

 

As cars slowly made their way through the Quadra Street overpass on the outer lanes, RCMP Const. Ryan O’Neill, a long-time Victoria police officer and recent RCMP transferee, flagged down a GMC Terrain SUV with his lighted traffic wand.

 

The driver was a teenager driving without the required N sticker.

 

“She’s likely going to get a violation ticket for at least one of the matters because you can’t just drive around without a license or not having an N,” he told the Times Colonist. “I’m just going to check a few things out and try to be as kind as I can.”

 

O’Neill ended up ticketing the teen for one of the three violations he caught at the traffic stop, delivered with a candy cane. After affixing a magnetic N sticker to the back of the car, he sent her on her way.

The fine was $81, the cheapest of the three violations he found.

 

Const. Sandra Bauch of Saanich police said her favourite part of the night was handing out candies to the kids in flagged-down vehicles.

 

Drivers would often thank police officers for their work and share stories, unprompted, of people in their lives who have been killed by an impaired driver, she said. “A lot of them are actually really happy to see us.”

 

Saanich Det.-Sgt. Damien Kowalewich said the night’s first CounterAttack roadblock was chosen for its highly visible location, though police also set up secondary roadblocks on Glanford Avenue, Royal Oak Avenue and Chatterton Way for drivers who might be trying to avoid the traffic buildup.

 

On average, crashes related to impaired driving kill 10 and injure 305 in 520 incidents on Vancouver Island every year.

 

More: https://digitaltimes...282076281650114

 

 

[spanky123]

Does this mean anyone can FOI an incident with police where video was recorded and retained, then publicly display that video? There has been a huge proliferation of police body worn camera videos on Youtube and various social media sites. Imagine having a bad day, ending up dealing with police, and having the incident shared all over social media. That doesn't seem like something that should be possible, and yet it's happening every day, with so many videos going viral.

 

I doubt it. There are enough exemptions/delays to BC's FOI policy that it would likely take years to get anything released.

[Victoria Watcher]

He said officers working night shifts tend to conduct mandatory breathalyzer checks because it can be tricky to tell which drivers are impaired via other means. “Some people, they may be driving impaired but showing no symptoms because he or she has built a tolerance over the years.”

Since COVID-19, most officers no longer stick their heads into car windows and get up close to catch the potential whiff of alcohol on a driver’s breath, Tallboy said.

Besides, an officer wouldn’t be able to differentiate alcoholic odours from intoxicated passengers if there’s a designated driver, he said.


https://www.timescol...ampaign-7949143




To me that’s serious overreach. Everyone having to blow.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 10 December 2023 - 11:35 AM.

[Mike K.]

Yes, first I’ve heard of this. Interesting.

Also, it’s very time consuming. We live near a little nook where police like to setup counterattacks. When someone is getting breathalyzed it’s an ordeal.

[Nparker]

Meanwhile, intoxicants are being supplied free to some residents of BC.

#endthealcoholstigma

[todd]

What is CSIS’ physical surveillance unit, where staff allege sex assault, harassment?

“..The unit is at the centre of allegations that its B.C. office was a toxic workplace, where senior staff bullied and harassed young officers, including two women who told The Canadian Press they were sexually assaulted by a senior colleague in surveillance vehicles while on missions.

One of the women said in an investigation published last week that she was raped nine times.

On Tuesday, CSIS director David Vigneault told staff at a town hall meeting that the officer accused by the women was no longer employed by the service, as of Monday…”: https://www.oakbayne...assment-7120838


CSIS Physical Surveillance Unit - Recruiting Video: https://m.youtube.co...h?v=DES9mJe1pM8






“…They said they felt unable to go to police, in part because of an obligation to secrecy, including a law against identifying themselves or others as CSIS officers, and a belief the organization would cover things up...”: https://www.timescol...culture-7903376

[pontcanna]

Lethal force ‘reasonable’ in Campbell River 2022 marina incident: IIO

 

Dec. 11, 2023 

 

The Independent Investigations Office (IIO) of B.C. says the Campbell River RCMP’s use of lethal force was reasonable in a situation at a marina in June 2022, because the man had threatened to shoot police while being armed.

On June 13, 2022, Campbell River RCMP were called to the Discovery Harbour Authority marina after a man shot and killed another, the IIO said in a report. The man then held two others hostage, before ultimately releasing them before police arrived.

Previous reporting by CHEK News identified the man who was killed by the man as Ryan Langlois.

After shooting Langlois, the man took two people hostage on his boat. The report says the two were held hostage for approximately four hours, and when the first hostage was released, he called 911 at 1:41 a.m.

When officers arrived around 2 a.m., they spoke with the hostage who had been released and told them there was another hostage still being held, when officers went to attend the boat, they found the second hostage “walking on the dock, apparently in shock.”

The second released hostage said they had been held by the man “for hours” and that he was now alone on the boat. The second hostage said the man did have a firearm with him.

Just after 5 a.m., police were told the man had texted a friend that he had a loaded gun and wasn’t going to come off the boat alive and he had “every intention of making police do the deed.”

At 5:34 a.m. the crisis negotiation team called him again and he was then described as sounding angry. He said he had three guns and would shoot police.

He then put the phone down and began walking towards the dock and officers shouted “drop the gun.” When a gunshot fired on the boat, officers then opened fire toward the man.

IIO conclusion

“[The man] died from a shotgun blast into his head through the mouth, which was clearly self-inflicted,” Ronald J. MacDonald, chief civilian director of the IIO said in a report. The autopsy report also notes there were nine postmortem gunshot wounds to the man’s body.

MacDonald says the officers firing shots after the man died were reasonable because he had already shot and killed someone, was still armed, and talked of killing others.

 

More: https://www.cheknews...nt-iio-1181432/

 

Report: https://iiobc.ca/app...-2022-136-2.pdf

[todd]

Police fired 31 shots into armed man's boat in Campbell River marina standoff: IIO report

“..It says members of the Emergency Response Team opened fire after hearing a gunshot on the boat that turned out to be the man using the gun on himself.

The civilian oversight agency said the man died from a single “shotgun blast … clearly self-inflicted” during the incident in the early hours of June 13…”: https://www.timescol...-report-7955768


(TC front page print)

Edited by todd, 12 December 2023 - 08:38 AM.

[pontcanna]

Guilty plea entered for gruesome, fatal south Nanaimo stabbing

Dec 12, 2023 

NANAIMO — A young man took responsibility for a chilling fatal knife attack outside his grandparents Eighth St. home, where the victim was apparently randomly targeted.

 

Simon James Baker, 23, pleaded guilty to second degree murder for the death of Denise Allick, 41, on Monday, Dec. 11 in BC Supreme Court in Nanaimo.

A hearing this week is expected to determine whether Baker had the mental capacity at the time to be considered criminally responsible for his actions.

Crown counsel’s Nick Barber outlined the agreed statement of facts from the evening of June 20, 2022 outside the home near Park Avenue Elementary School.

“Miss Allick had no known previous connection to Mr. Baker,:” Barber said.

Not long after 10 p.m. Baker stabbed Allick six times: four times to her face, once on the shoulder and to the neck, severing an artery. Barber said the neck slash was the fatal wound, citing an autopsy report.

Prior to the perplexing attack, Allick was drinking with a friend for a few hours.

The pair went to a liquor store and convenience store on Bruce Ave. at Eighth St. a few blocks west of the murder scene.

Allick and her friend then parted ways.

It’s unclear why she then parked her car near where she was killed, nor why or how she encountered Baker. Baker’s grandparents were watching TV when he declared he was going outside for a cigarette.

With his grandfather hard of hearing, Baker’s grandmother heard shrieking and hollering calls coming from a woman near their home.

Baker went inside declaring a girl was covered in blood.

“This chick was attacking me,” he said.

No injuries of any kind were sustained by Baker while his grandfather immediately called 911.

While his grandfather was on the phone with an emergency dispatcher trying to get help, Baker was phoning to arrange a taxi to pick him up from the nearby school.

A few minutes later Nanaimo RCMP arrived, who found the grandparents standing near Allick, She was lying on her back drenched in blood near their home’s front entrance.

Based on large volumes of blood in the home’s carport, the stabbing is believed to have occurred there before Allick ultimately dropped to the ground and died near the front door.

Baker’s grandfather and a police officer had back-to-back phone conversations with Baker while he was in the taxi, pleading with him to return to the scene.

He did so and was promptly arrested for murder without incident.

Baker handed over the murder weapon to police, a knife concealed inside a hoodie pocket.

Baker told police the night of the murder he had an opioid addiction, had “taken a point” about an hour earlier and was starting to get dope sick.
 

Baker presented concerning signs in the months leading up to the murder regarding erratic and dangerous behaviour, compounded by longstanding substance misuse.

Citing he suffered from schizophrenia, (his mother) said for several months prior to the stabbing Baker had become paranoid, delusional and was concerned about trespassers.

This week experts on behalf of the defence and Crown are expected to relay their conclusions regarding Baker’s mental state at the time of the stabbing.

More: https://nanaimonewsn...naimo-stabbing/

 

[Mike K.]

South Nanaimo is trying really hard, but it's a rough area.

 

[pontcanna]

IIO is Investigating an Incident of Serious Harm While In Custody in Nanaimo (2023-353)

December 12, 2023

Case: 2023-353 

Incident Date: December 10, 2023 

Location: Nanaimo 

Detachment: Nanaimo Agency: RCMP 

Incident Classification: Serious Harm 

Case Status: Open - Investigation in Progress

INFORMATION BULLETIN
Independent Investigations Office
For Immediate Release

The Independent Investigations Office of BC (IIO) is investigating the circumstances surrounding the serious harm of one man while in police custody in Nanaimo.

Information provided by the Nanaimo RCMP states that around 11:45 a.m. on December 10, 2023, a man in custody collapsed unexpectedly inside a police cell.

Emergency Health Services responded and transported the affected person to the hospital with what was later determined to be a serious injury.

The IIO was notified the same day and is looking into the sequence of events leading up to the time the affected person suffered the injury.

Initial investigative steps will seek to confirm the extent of the man’s injury and what if any role police may have played during the incident.

The IIO is asking any person with relevant information about the incident to please contact the IIO via the Witness Line toll-free at 1-855-446-8477 or using the contact form on the iiobc.ca website.

 

 

[pontcanna]

VicPD Member Suspended

 

Date: Tuesday, December 12, 2023 

 

Victoria, BC – A VicPD officer has been suspended during the course of an investigation into a complaint of misconduct.  

 

Earlier this year, a misconduct complaint was made about a VicPD officer. Upon receiving the complaint, the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner (OPCC) assigned the Vancouver Police Department to investigate. 

 

This week, the Vancouver Police Department Discipline Authority received new information about this complaint and has advised us that this officer will be suspended effective immediately.  

 

The Victoria Police Department takes allegations of misconduct seriously and fully supports the investigative process and this decision; we are accountable to the citizens and communities we serve. We continue to support this investigation and further details cannot be shared at this time.