TWO VANCOUVER POLICE OFFICERS SENTENCED TO HOUSE ARREST

Judge troubled by conduct of officers after the offence

VANCOUVER - Two of the six Vancouver police officers who assaulted
three men in Stanley Park last year were sentenced Monday to spend 60
days and 30 days respectively under house arrest.

Of the other four officers who admitted assaulting the men, one was
given a suspended sentence and six months probation, one was placed on
probation for nine months, one was given a conditional discharge and
one was given an absolute discharge.

The stiffest sentence was handed out to Duncan Gemmell, 39, who will
serve his 60-day conditional sentence at home under a nightly 8
p.m.-to-7 a.m. curfew.

Another officer, Gabriel Kojima, 23, was handed a 30-day conditional
sentence.

Gemmell received the most serious sentence because he was the oldest,
most experienced of the six officers, Vancouver provincial court Judge
Herb Weitzel concluded in his oral reasons for sentence.

The judge, who also imposed six months of probation and 40 hours of
community service on Gemmell, found the officer should have stopped
the violence but instead allowed it to escalate.

"His breach of trust was at high level," the judge said. "This sort of
conduct cannot and will not be tolerated."

The judge said Gemmell, who was born in Scotland and previously worked
for the Regina police before being hired by Vancouver police in
January 2002, "set the tone" of the assault.

The judge said he was also troubled by the "post-offence conduct" of
the officers, especially that of Gemmell, who wrote in a report on the
incident that the three men arrested -- Barry Lawrie, Jason Desjardins
and Grant Wilson -- were released at separate times and places after
being picked up as suspected drug traffickers.

In fact, the three were driven in a police wagon to the parking lot at
Third Beach at 5 a.m. last Jan. 12. There, they were verbally attacked
and roughed up by the six officers, who also included Christopher
Cronmiller, Raymond Gardner, James Kenney and Brandon Steele. Each
officer pleaded guilty last Nov. 24 to three counts of assault.

The judge found Gemmell's written police report "was less than
forthright and was misleading in not what it said but what it failed
to say."

Although Gemmell had apologized for his conduct, the judge said: "In
my view, he has much to apologize for."

The judge paid tribute to a young police recruit, Constable Troy
Peters, for coming forward and telling the truth about what he saw
that night. Peters did not take part in the assault.

"In this whole sordid set of circumstances, he is the one bright
light," the judge said of the officer who blew the whistle on his
colleagues.

The judge found that even though police acted out of frustration --
the victims all have criminal records for drugs -- it was not a
heat-of-the-moment situation.

"Saner minds should have prevailed," the judge said. "Instead, the
level of violence increased." The judge blamed police for allowing a
"mob mentality" to take over that night.

Weitzel assessed the "blameworthiness" of each officer before imposing
different sentences:

- - Kojima, 23, was given a 30-day conditional sentence to be served
under house arrest with a nightly curfew, plus six months of
probation. The judge pointed out that the officer, only a year out of
the police academy, had no previous dealings with the victims that
night but chose to assault all three men, including using a police
baton on Desjardins' knee and using his boot to "prod" Wilson after he
was knocked to the ground. The judge found the officer's "egregious
behaviour" warranted a criminal sanction sufficient to send a message
that society will not tolerate gratuitous violence against people in
police custody.

- - Cronmiller, 27, who had only worked 28 shifts as an officer,
received a conditional discharge and six months of probation with
conditions: keep the peace, report to a probation officer, do 30 hours
of community service by May 1, and have no contact with the victims.
If he complies with all terms, he will be deemed not to have committed
the offence. If he fails to abide by the terms, he could be charged
with breach of probation. The judge noted the officer, who is married
with children and whose father is a retired police officer, pushed one
of the victims, Wilson, once.

- - Gardener, 32, received nine months of probation and 50 hours of
community service. Born in England, he came to Canada at age seven and
became a Canadian citizen in 1991. The judge found he was a direct
participant in all three assaults, but only after other officers had
initiated the shoving.

- - Kenney, 34, who joined the force in 1999 and became an acting
sergeant an hour before the incident, was given an absolute discharge
without conditions. The judge found Kenney was the officer least to
blame for the assaults, which he had watched from 20 feet away with a
new police recruit. Being in a supervisory capacity, however, Kenney
had a duty to intervene and stop the assaults, the judge said.

- - Steele, 31, a graduate of Simon Fraser University's criminology
program, took part in verbally berating and shoving the first victim,
Laurie, and punched Wilson once. He received a suspended sentence, six
months of probation and 25 hours of community service

"There's no question they made a mistake," Constable Tom Stamatakis,
the president of the Vancouver police union, said of the conduct of
the six officers. But he suggested the officers should be allowed to
keep their jobs. "People get second chances all the time," he said.

Stamatakis said he does not believe the department's reputation has
been tarnished. He pointed out that a Vancouver police recruit
reported the matter, which sparked the criminal investigation leading
to charges of assault with a weapon and obstruction of justice.

The six officers will face a disciplinary hearing next week --Jan. 15
and 16 -- that will be headed by Vancouver police Chief Jamie Graham.
The hearing will not be open to the public.

The police department would not comment Monday on the sentencing of
what has been dubbed the VPD Six.

"It would not be appropriate for the Vancouver police department to
comment on the court decision in this matter; that is not our place,"
Deputy Chief Constable Bob Rich told reporters.

"The members came before the court and were dealt with according to
the rule of law," he added.

Rich said the decision at the disciplinary hearing is subject to
review by the police complaints commissioner, who can also order a
public hearing if he determines it is in the public interest.

Rich said the department has attempted to do the right thing since the
behaviour of the six officers came to its attention and reminded the
public that it was a fellow officer who first brought the matter forward.

"I also ask you to remember that the Vancouver police department has
1,200 members who continue to serve the community proudly and often
risk their lives to protect this community," Rich said.

"There is no one who wants this matter resolved in a more open and
transparent manner than the men and women of the department who value
their deserved reputation for honesty and integrity in the performance
of their duties."

Special prosecutor Robert Gourlay, who had urged the judge to impose
sentences of 30 to 90 days in jail, didn't rule out a Crown appeal of
the sentences. The Crown will consider all the facts and the judge's
comments and decide within 30 days if further steps should be taken,
he said.

Lawyer Phil Rankin, who is representing the three victims in a civil
lawsuit, said his clients felt the police officers should go to jail.

"Frankly, if you really want to stop people from doing these things,
you should put them in jail," he said outside court after attending
the sentencing.

The lawyer said he was impressed that one of the officers broke the
"code of silence" and reported the assaults.

"If they [police] can't rely on people staying quiet, they will stop
doing it," he said, adding he believes the assaults were not unique.

He said his clients claim they were more severely assaulted than the
officers admitted to in an agreed statement of facts, entered earlier
at the sentencing hearing.

"It was a lot worse than what the judge was told," Rankin said. "They
were a lot more violent. They [the victims] all suffered injuries."

But the civil trial, he added, will now rely on the facts found by the
judge at the criminal trial, mainly because Rankin's clients have
criminal records for drug offences and won't be deemed credible.

He said he plans to meet with lawyers for the city next week to offer
to settle the lawsuit.

Rankin said he still finds it outrageous that his clients were
abducted and confined.

"They acted like a mob and they should be treated all the same," he
said of the six officers. "Some of them were quite lucky."

Rankin said there is a likelihood the officers will lose their jobs at
the disciplinary hearing next week.

"I think they need to be better led," he said of the police force,
which has been the subject of a series of allegations of excessive
force in recent years.