VANCOUVER POLICE MUST BE QUICKER TO COME CLEAN WITH PUBLIC INFORMATION

The Vancouver Police Department again finds itself in the spotlight over
the Boxing Day shooting of Gerald Chenery in a Downtown Eastside alley by a
pair of junior officers. And, on the surface, it appears the VPD is being
up-front and above-board about the tragic death of a 29-year-old man who,
police say, had a lengthy criminal record.

The male and female officers involved are on a paid leave of duty; there
will be an internal review, as well as a coroner's inquest, into the
shooting, and Crown prosecutors will decide from the evidence available
whether or not to press charges.

But still, as is too often the case with the VPD, unsettling questions arise:

- - Why did it take three weeks for the police to inform the public that
their officers had fired 15 bullets at the knife-wielding Chenery?

- - How many of those 15 bullets hit him? How many bullets went astray?

- - Was Chenery really on drugs, as police spokeswoman Const. Anne Drennan
implied?

Drennan says agitated people high on drugs and/or booze sometimes have
superhuman strength. And she suggested we put ourselves in the police's shoes.

"What would you have done if you were in this situation," she asked last
week at a press briefing, held on the same day as a public protest about
the police's actions.

The difficulty of being a police officer, however, is not in question.

Any sensible person knows that it is a difficult profession. And most
fair-minded Vancouverites know their streets are safer because of the
city's dedicated police officers.

The problem is the VPD appears too ready to witRating 2 old information
that may be critical of the department.

A case in point is an RCMP report on allegations of police misconduct
compiled by the Downtown Eastside's Pivot Legal Society in 2002.

The Mounties' findings were presented to police Chief Jamie Graham last
year, and still haven't been made public.

This, of course, leads people to believe the VPD has something to hide.

Taking our cue from Drennan, we think the department should put itself in
the shoes of the public -- which shouldn't have to hold protest demos to
prize information out of the police.