LAVAL COPS 'SHOCKED, DISAPPOINTED'

Jury Acquits. Procedural Changes Already Under Way, Police Force Says

Laval police were "shocked and disappointed" at the acquittal
yesterday of Basil Parasiris in the killing of Constable Daniel
Tessier, but they have already made changes to avoid a similar
tragedy in the future.

The technical changes to the way Laval police execute search warrants
are not an admission of any failure of police methods, Laval police
chief Jean-Pierre Gariepy insisted last night.

Responding to a jury's acquittal of Parasiris in the death of Tessier
in March of last year during an early morning drug raid at
Parasiris's Brossard home, Gariepy said the verdict doesn't change
who's to blame for the officer's death.

"There's only one person whose fault it is and that's Basil
Parasiris," Gariepy said, gritting his teeth during a news conference
at Laval police headquarters.

"He's the one who pulled the trigger. He's the one who shot Daniel
Tessier. He's the only one who's responsible for the death of Daniel Tessier.

"So if there's someone to blame, he should look at himself in the
mirror." Gariepy said his department has reviewed its procedures to
make certain police officers are crystal clear when asking a judge
for a search warrant.

A judge issued a warrant for the raid on Parasiris's home, but police
did not use it properly as it did not allow for a raid at night, Gariepy said.

They went there at 5:10 a.m., and legal standards consider it night
time until 6 a.m.

"We didn't specify we wanted to do the raid at night," Gariepy said.
"It's only a matter of 50 minutes but that 50 minutes made our search
warrant invalid." Laval police have asked Quebec's Department of
Public Security to review dynamic entry raids like the one carried
out on Parasiris's home.

Those raids are designed to catch people off guard before they can
destroy the evidence.

Laval police are also asking that police officers in Quebec get
better training for the raids.

"We don't want another police officer to fall this way," Gariepy said.

He said Tessier's widow, Dominique Lapointe, "feels like we do. It's
very hard (for her). It brings back (memories of) a year ago." Police
relayed a request from Tessier's family members that the media leave
them alone.

Laval police Lt. Daniel Guerin told The Gazette that a direct result
of the police review since Tessier's death is that drug squad
officers no longer carry out dynamic entry raids.

Only the tactical, or SWAT unit, does that now, he said.

Laval's tactical unit was not present for the raid at Parasiris's
home. Gariepy defended the operation that led to the raid.

"We had done nine months of investigation," he said, adding that
members of the Surete du Quebec participated.

Gariepy said he regretted that the jury was not told that less than a
gram of cocaine, nearly two grams of marijuana, 13 cellular phones
and four pagers were found in Parasiris' home.

"It would have been good for us for them to know why we were there,"
Gariepy said.

But he didn't question the legitimacy of the verdict. It will be up
to the crown prosecutor in the case to decide within a month whether
or not to appeal.