POLICY ON ARRESTING TROUBLEMAKERS REMAINS UNCHANGED

Stanley Park 6 Explain 'Breaching'

Six officers who drove a trio of drug dealers to Stanley Park for a
pre-dawn beating were relying on a Vancouver Police Department policy on
arresting troublemakers that remains unchanged.

Two of the six officers -- Duncan Gemmell and Gabriel Kojima -- were fired
for their parts in the beatings; the other four were severely disciplined.

At a complaints commission hearing yesterday, during which Gemmell and
Kojima fought to get their jobs back, the VPD's "breaching" policy got a
thorough going-over. When an officer witnesses a breach of the peace or a
situation in which it's likely to occur, the officer can arrest the person
without charging them and do one of three things:

- - Drive the person home or to suitable transportation;

- - Drive the person to an area away from the trouble spot;

- - Jail the person for three or four hours and let him or her go without
charges.

Const. Jag Cheema was acting sergeant in District 1 at the start of the
nightshift on Jan. 13 to 14, 2003. Cheema arrested the most troublesome of
the three victims, a drug dealer with a long record who hung out on the
corner of Granville and Helmcken streets, at about 3:15 a.m.

Grant Wilson was threatening two separate pairs of men on that corner about
five minutes apart. Cheema left work shortly afterward for a family medical
emergency, leaving Const. James Kenney as acting sergeant. Soon after,
Wilson was dropped off at the corner of Main and Hastings streets, but
reappeared at Granville and Helmcken around 4:50 a.m. Gemmell and his
partner, Const. Raymond Gardner, radioed in: "Wilson is back." Kenny
replied, "Just send him farther this time."

Sgt. Curtis Robinson, leader of the District 1 nightshift up until November
2002, testified the supervisor of each shift had to approve the "breaching"
of a suspect.

Asked if the policy had changed since the beating incident, Robinson
replied, "No."

He added he has never authorized officers to drop off anyone they had
picked up under the policy at Stanley Park.