3329 replies to this topic

[Mike K.]

Ray Bernoties, OBPD Chief:

After what will be almost 31 yrs policing, 5 1/2 of those in Oak Bay, I'll be retiring this summer. Very grateful to my Police Board, Mayor & Council, so many colleagues throughout the years & many, many others. Still around for a while so no 'good byes' yet.

[todd]

I was just starting to enjoy his Twitter feed

[pontcanna]

No charges against police, guards after suspect suffered heart attack in Central Saanich jail: IIO

January 31, 2022

B.C.’s police watchdog says that a suspect who suffered a cardiac arrest and subsequent brain injury after being placed in a holding cell in Central Saanich was not the victim of negligence on the part of police and jail staff.

Officers were called to arrest the suspect at around 8:40 a.m. following an allegation that he had assaulted his spouse. Arriving officers arrested him but found he had “difficult walking and keeping his balance,” and paramedics then assessed him.

He was released at 4:20 p.m. the same day with no medical concerns, then placed on conditions not to have contact with his alleged victim and to stay away from her home.

Investigators say the man’s spouse came home later that night, around 7 p.m., to find the man sitting on her couch with apparent injuries to his eye and elbow. He allegedly told her someone found him face-down in the road and drove him home.

Police were called back to the residence and once again arrested the suspect.

The man once again declined hospital treatment and was transported to a holding cell that was locked at 7:45 p.m.

IIO investigators say evidence obtained from surveillance cameras shows that as required, wellness checks were performed on the man every 15 to 20 minutes.  

Throughout the night the man moved around on the cell bench, sleeping on one side or the other, and showed no signs of medical distress until 6:36 a.m. when he appeared to have a seizure, at which time the jail guard was temporarily out of the cellblock. Two minutes later, the man appeared to settle in an “unnatural” resting position. 

“Audio of the events can be heard on recordings made by a nearby camera in the booking area. It can be heard that an officer is doing chest compressions, and an automatic defibrillator is brought to the cell and applied,” the IIO stated. “At 6:56 a.m., paramedics attended, and [the suspect] was transported to hospital.”

“Cell checks were conducted regularly and in a manner closely approximating policy standards,” (IIO) wrote. “No blame can attach to an individual moving from his post occasionally to visit the washroom.”

The man’s medical distress was spotted “very quickly” after it became apparent and the director said that all appropriate efforts were made to help him.

More: https://www.cheknews...ail-iio-948022/

 

[pontcanna]

Police Services Dog helps to locate and rescue lost hiker in Nanaimo

February 1, 2022


Police Services Dog Luthor

A hiker that lost his way in Nanaimo is now home safe and sound, thanks in part to the help of a Police Services Dog, says RCMP.

The incident took place along a trail off of Vipond Road in Nanaimo, with police receiving a call from a 75-year-old man requesting assistance at approximately 7:45 p.m. on January 28.

The man says he had become disoriented, losing his way, while also telling officers that he was very wet — which police say was cause for concern as the temperature had dropped to one degree.

The Police Services Dog tracked a few trails quickly before veering into the bush, locating the man approximately 200 metres off the path.

The man was uninjured and Const Hough and Luthor escorted him out of the woods.

More: https://www.cheknews...nanaimo-949048/

 

[pontcanna]

Esquimalt officer denies allegations in $5.3-million sex-abuse civil suit

JEREMY HAINSWORTH, Glacier Media

An Esquimalt police officer has denied sexual-abuse allegations levelled in a civil lawsuit from a former teenage informant.

The initial suit, filed by a woman known only as Jane Doe, born in 1972, named officers Scott Malcolm Connors, Robert Bruce Cowick, Samuel Donald Devana and Kenneth Barrie Cockle, as well as the Victoria Police Department, which amalgamated with the Esquimalt Police Department in 2003.

The Victoria department has since been dropped from the $5.3-million suit, and the Township of Esquimalt is named as a defendant instead.

It started in May 1990 when Doe was with 13-year-old S.J. and ran into Connors by a pub, the claim said. She alleges Connors pulled open her shirt and looked down. Two months later, he asked if she was wearing a bra and pulled on the back of it.

Doe alleged Cowick, on four occasions, solicited Doe to perform oral sex on him.

She alleged Cockle started in 1992 by making inappropriate and unwelcome sexual remarks over the phone.

In the summer of 1993, the claim said, Cockle, while on duty at the Esquimalt police station, asked her to strip and expose her breasts as a gift to retiring sergeant Jim Askew.

“When Doe refused this request,” the claim said, “Cockle solicited Jane Doe to have oral sex with Sgt. Askew, offering to get her drunk if she complied with his request.”

In the fall of 1993, Doe attended Askew’s retirement party, with Cockle giving her numerous brandy shots. Jane Doe approached the table of police officers and informed them that she was there to perform oral sex on Sgt. Askew,” the claim said.

In March of 1993, the claim said, Cockle invited Doe for drinks with a dispatcher. When the dispatcher left, Doe alleges, Cockle offered to drive her home. After several sexual advances, he exposed himself “before raping her on the ground outside of his vehicle,” the claim said.

It was in May of 1992 that Doe told her probation officer she was an informant and had been sexually harassed and assaulted. The officer contacted Deputy Chief Const. Graham Brown about the situation but, the claim said, Brown said a complaint would have to be filed.

Connors filed a response to the claim on Jan. 21, denying the allegations.

The response said Connors encountered the plaintiff frequently and with the knowledge and under the direction of the Esquimalt Police Department.

Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins told Glacier Media that township legal counsel requested and was granted an extension to file a response.

“As this is a legal matter, further comment will not be provided at this time,” Desjardins said.

 

More: https://www.piquenew...il-suit-5012197

 

[pontcanna]

Giving the thumbs-up

Times Colonist - 3 Feb 2022

Regarding the complaint about a VicPD officer caught on camera giving a thumbs-up signal at the Saturday protest, some background is needed.

My family yelled “thanks for your service,” and in response, the officer put his thumb up.

I was dismayed to see some expert from Vancouver attacking the integrity of Police Chief Dal Manak over this.

 

Derek Sanderson, Victoria


Thumbs up to the police officers

In regard to the police officer issuing a thumbs-up, it indicated to me that there is harmony in the community.

We too easily forget the police are our neighbours, not our adversaries.

A happy relaxed crowd acting within the law are in unity with the police. Thumbs up to all at the rally for good behaviour and a special thumbs up to the police as members of that community.

Tony Brogan, Salt Spring

 

[pontcanna]

Naked man found in Nanaimo woman's car trunk may have been there for days

Nanaimo RCMP Sgt. John Blaase said Friday that though he’s been a police officer for 34 years, “I gotta admit, that was the first to find a naked man in a trunk.”

 

A Nanaimo woman was startled to discover a naked man hiding in the trunk of her car this week.

Bethany Coker, a mechanic, found the man in the back of her car on Tuesday and took a video of their encounter that she posted to TikTok.

Coker figures the man had been scrunched up in the back of the vehicle for three days.

RCMP were called and took the man to hospital for a mental-health assessment.

More: https://www.timescol...8W_3rScpRnQ_x0I

 

[Mike K.]

We really need a Nanaimo Man thread.

[Victoria Watcher]

The man was “hiding” in the car? Odd phrase. I bet if someone found a naked woman in a car trunk tyeyveoujd not put it on TikTok for fun.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 04 February 2022 - 05:15 PM.

[pontcanna]

Victoria council approves VicPD budget increase, hiring of more staff; OK needed from Esquimalt council

VicPD request is for $63.4 million, up from 2021 budget of $59.2 million

Victoria council has approved the ­Victoria police core budget, as well as funding requests to hire 10 for new ­positions.

VicPD requested a budget of $63.4 million, about $4 million more than the 2021 budget of $59.2 million.

About $1 million of the budget request is to hire six officers and four civilians. VicPD asked for funding to hire two officers for the Assertive Community Treatment team, which was reduced from three officers to one last summer, two officers who would be part of a co-responder team with Island Health, a cultural liaison officer to build bridges with the Indigenous, Black and people of colour communities, and a ­sergeant to investigate cybercrime.

The four civilian positions include a records specialist, a data analyst and two front-desk staff. Esquimalt council will also need to approve the budget for it to be finalized.

 

More: https://www.timescol...council-5031575

[pontcanna]

B.C. police dog bites under scrutiny by advocates, oversight agencies

CTV Vancouver Island

Stakeholders are sharing their expertise on the use of police dogs in B.C., weighing the benefits they offer police with the injuries they can inflict.

From tearing arteries to pulling people’s ears from their scalps, police dogs can inflict brutal damage, according to advocates.

 

"We’re talking about permanent damage to people’s limbs, nerve damage, muscle injuries," said Meenakshi Mannoe, policing campaigner for Pivot Legal Society.

Mannoe works with the family of Jared Lowndes, a Wet'suwet'en man shot and killed by Campbell River RCMP in July. Officers boxed in his vehicle and deployed a police service dog, which RCMP said he stabbed fatally.

"I have been, and continue to be, against the use of dogs to inflict pain and punishment on people," Lowndes’ mother, Laura Holland, wrote in an email to CTV News.

K9s ARE MULTI-PURPOSE, POLICE SAY

Police dogs aren’t used as a punitive measure, said Sgt. Calvin Ewer, who heads the Integrated Canine Service in Victoria and Saanich.

"Make no mistake about it, this is a minimal force concept. We don’t want to bite these subjects," Ewer told CTV News.

"We could be tracking a violent suspect from a robbery… in the morning and in the afternoon we could be searching for a missing dementia patient," he said.

HUNDREDS OF BITES EACH YEAR

Victoria and Saanich’s Integrated Canine Service dogs were deployed 399 times in 2021, for calls from bomb sweeps to evidence searches. They were key contributors in the arrests of 86 people, biting 12 of them, Ewer said.

The IIO says investigations involving serious injuries linked to police service dogs are on the rise. 

"The number of cases that are being reported to us and the number of cases that have resulted in serious harm are increasing quite substantially," said IIO chief civilian director Ron MacDonald.

Generally, the OPCC records more injuries from dog bites than any other type of force, so the deputy police complaint commissioner said this is a good sign.
 

Municipal police are required to report to the OPCC all injuries where someone requires emergency care and transfer to hospital. 

Complainants have flagged concerns that they already surrendered or there wasn’t ample warning before a dog was deployed, she said.

MORE STRINGENT STANDARDS?

MacDonald said B.C. has some of the strongest policing standards in Canada. Still, he plans to recommend tweaks to the province’s police services director, former Mountie Wayne Rideout.

Pivot Legal Society is also calling for mandatory tracking of race-based data, to determine whether racialized people are disproportionately bitten by police dogs.

More: https://vancouverisl...ncies-1.5773219

 

[On the Level]

 

They were key contributors in the arrests of 86 people, biting 12 of them, Ewer said.

 

So for those 86, what would the end result be without the K9?  Sounds like another blame the Police for people behaving badly.

[pontcanna]

SAANICH POLICE DEPARTMENT

RECOGNIZED AS ONE OF BC'S TOP EMPLOYERS (2022)

By Richard Yerema and Kristina Leung, Mediacorp Canada Inc. staff editors (Feb 7, 2022)

 

Here are some of the reasons why Saanich Police Department was selected as one of BC's Top Employers (2022) :

* Saanich Police Department supports a number of local and national charitable initiatives each year and encourages employees to get involved with up to 14 paid days off to volunteer annually

* Saanich Police Department maintains maternity and parental leave top-up policies for parents-to-be, offering the majority of new mothers up to 80 per cent of salary for up to 32 weeks, and parental top-up for fathers and adoptive parents to 80 per cent of salary for up to 15 weeks

* Additionally, the department provides academic scholarships to parents with college-aged children, to $1,000 per child per year

Highlights for New Grads

Full-time employees in Canada        101 to 250

Student opportunities        summer jobs, co-op opportunities

Training        orientation program, online training, in-house training, mentoring, leadership training

Annual tuition maximum        employer pays up to $500 in tuition subsidies for job-related courses per year

Typical new grad positions        Police Constable, Coordinator of Volunteers, Court Administrative Services, CPIC Key User, Digital Evidence Technician, Disclosure Administrator. Exhibit Property Control Coordinator, FOI File Coordinator. Historical Records Clerk, Information Records Clerk, PRIME Coordinator, Quality Control Reader, Records Support Clerk, Administrative Assistant, Senior IT Technician

Starting salary        $60K to $70K

Academic fields recruited

Bachelor of Arts

Recruits at these schools

Camosun College
Douglas College
Royal Roads University
University of the Fraser Valley
University of Victoria
Vancouver Island University

 

More: https://reviews.cana...H-jsVaAbxTfIvoA

 

 

[A Girl is No one]

So for those 86, what would the end result be without the K9? Sounds like another blame the Police for people behaving badly.

I would not expect any less from Pivot legal society.

[On the Level]

I would not expect any less from Pivot legal society.

 

Agreed.  I am not expecting anything objective to come from a "policing campaigner."

 

 

tearing arteries to pulling people’s ears from their scalps

 

Statements like these are emotional.  Do we go into the same type of detail to describe the injuries to victims of some of the accused like the person that was just stabbed in the face?  Of course not.

 

As far as the number of cases increasing, we seem to have missed out the part about Victoria and Vancouver's violent crime rate increasing.  No correlation I suppose.  

Edited by On the Level, 09 February 2022 - 10:12 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

When the injuries are intentionally inflicted by law enforcement it’s likely we should know the extent.

As for the other civilian cases, they will certainly be described at trial.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 09 February 2022 - 10:15 AM.

[A Girl is No one]

When the injuries are intentionally inflicted by law enforcement it’s likely we should know the extent.

As for the other civilian cases, they will certainly be described at trial.

Before or after he is released to offend again? 😒

[pontcanna]

Two bodies discovered in vehicle at Mt. Tolmie shelter parking lot

The investigation is ongoing, but Saanich police say the deaths do not appear to be suspicious

 

Times Colonist, Feb. 10, 2022

 

Saanich police are investigating after two people were found dead in a car in the parking lot of the former Mt. Tolmie Hospital, in the Cedar Hill area of Saanich early Thursday.

The B.C. Coroners Service has also launched an investigation.

Up to seven emergency vehicles converged Thursday morning in the parking lot of the facility, now called Mt. Tolmie Shelter, at 3690 Richmond Rd., which has been repurposed as a temporary shelter for formerly homeless people.

While the investigation is ongoing, police say the deaths do not appear to be suspicious.
 

More: https://www.timescol...ing-lot-5051382

[pontcanna]

City of Duncan to pay for policing costs as population surpasses 5,000

 

CTV Vancouver Island - Feb. 18, 2022

 

The City of Duncan, B.C., is now on the hook for police funding, now that its population has risen above 5,000, based on the latest national census data.

Duncan has a population of 5,047, according to census information released on Feb. 9, up from 4,944 in 2016.

With the city surpassing the 5,000 residents mark, the municipality is required to pay for 70 per cent of RCMP policing costs, with the federal government covering the remaining 30 per cent. Previously, the province was covering the municipality's contribution.

The city notes that if it were to switch to a municipal police force, it would be responsible for 100 per cent of policing costs
 

More: https://vancouverisl...5-000-1.5787373

[Mike K.]

Metchosin also crossed over 5,000. We’ll likely be hearing soon about their policing costs.