POLICEMAN'S KILLER GETS DAY PAROLE FOR DRUG THERAPY

Edmonton Police Service Members Want To Know Why Albert Foulston Out On Street

EDMONTON - A man convicted for his part in the 1990 murder of Const. Ezio
Faraone has been granted day parole to attend a drug treatment program, and
Edmonton police want to know why.

Det. Wil Tonowski of the high-risk offender unit said Edmonton police are
concerned about the decision reached by the National Parole Board.

"But it may sound worse than it is, because has he really been granted any
freedom on the streets?"

The last time Albert Foulston left prison on parole, Faraone was shot to
death in an Edmonton alley.

Foulston was sentenced to 20 years for manslaughter and robbery but is
serving an aggregate sentence of 30 years, seven months and 18 days because
of other offences dating back to 1981.

He will be eligible to apply for parole in December.

" ...The board has reached the conclusion that your risk to reoffend is
manageable on a three-month limited day parole for substance abuse
treatment," the parole board said.

Tonowski said Foulston, 41, who is in prison near Abbotsford, has
permission to go to a drug treatment centre in B.C.'s lower mainland.

He faces an 8 p.m. curfew and must return to custody each night. He does
not have permission to leave the drug treatment facility.

"But I don't know how secure it is, to be quite frank with you," Tonowski said.

He has been unable to find out whether Foulston has already started the
program or is timing it to coincide with his possible December release date.

The detective said if Foulston does well in the program, he could apply for
permission to live in a halfway house.

High on drugs, Foulston and Jerry Crews robbed an Edmonton bank on June 25,
1990.

They were stopped by Faraone in an alley.

As Foulston approached the officer with his hands raised, Crews shot
Faraone with a sawed-off shotgun used in the robbery. Crews was convicted
of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison with no eligibility
for parole for 25 years.

The parole board document granting Foulston day parole to attend the
program lists several incidences of his continued heroin use in prison, the
most recent just five months ago.

"Our members in general don't understand it," Tonowski said.

"Especially when you look at the time this man has been addicted while he
was in the institution, and especially when one looks at his institutional
record, it is absolutely horrific.

"This man has failed a number of different programs, has been in fights
with other inmates and staff.

"And it doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense to give this man the
privilege to enter this type of treatment facility when he has shown very
little effort to try to make gains on his own, until very recently."

Tonowski has attended more than 140 parole hearings and says he is almost
always impressed with the thoroughness. During that time, he has come to
believe in programs that gradually reintroduce longtime inmates into society.

"I usually do not disagree with National Parole Board decisions, but in
this case it is very difficult to understand."