RCMP TO PROBE COMPLAINTS AGAINST VANCOUVER POLICE

The RCMP are investigating 57 complaints of misconduct and abuse by
Vancouver police officers operating in the Downtown Eastside.

Police complaint commissioner Dirk Ryneveld requested an independent
investigation by the RCMP rather than have the complaints investigated by
the Vancouver force's own internal affairs department.

"An external investigation is necessary in the public interest and
necessary in order to preserve public confidence in the complaint process,"
Ryneveld said Monday.

Ryneveld said the RCMP is the only entity in the province large enough to
look into the complaints against the 1,100-member Vancouver force.

"When you get a bundle of complaints that includes over 50 complaint forms,
you need a force large enough to do a thorough, comprehensive job,"
Ryneveld said.

The investigation is a victory for the Pivot Legal Society, which has been
at loggerheads with the Vancouver police department over its treatment of
people in the Downtown Eastside and gathered affidavits from complainants.
A recent three-month crackdown on drug dealers in the area of Main and
Hastings also created more tensions between the force and the legal
society, an organization of lawyers and activists.

The group's executive director, John Richardson said the complaints include
allegations of torture, illegal searches and seizures, use of excessive
force, and so-called starlight tours in which officers drive people out of
the Downtown Eastside to beaches and other locations and dump them there.

"Ideally, we would like non-police officers doing the investigation,"
Richardson said Monday. "In the current context, we believe the RCMP are
detached enough that we can have a fair and objective investigation."

Some of the complaints will be nearly two years old by the time the RCMP
finish their investigation, a lag time which could pose problems,
Richardson said.

"Witnesses have become more difficult to locate, memories fail, but it
shouldn't pose a barrier to the investigation. There is no limitation for
criminal behaviour."

Pivot originally refused to release the names of complainants because of
concerns the Vancouver force would use the information improperly and fail
to investigate properly.

Last month, after filing a complaint with the police complaint
commissioner, Pivot re-released its report with signed affidavits naming
individual complainants.

The complainants include Eric Amos, who alleges he was assaulted; Jose
Cardona, who alleges he was kneed in the groin; Rob Weppler, who alleges he
was threatened and harassed, and Jill Weiss, a YWCA Women of Distinction
Award winner who alleges she witnessed police beating an unarmed man.

The society has been calling on the police complaint commissioner to ask
the provincial government for a public inquiry into what it calls systemic
abuse by the Vancouver police department.

Vancouver police chief Jamie Graham said the department wants a thorough
and fair investigation. The force's own internal affairs unit was unable to
investigate the complaints properly, according to Graham, because the Pivot
Society refused to release the complaint forms with names attached when it
first came out last fall.

"I recognize many... of these people are poor and disadvantaged and may be
fearful of public scrutiny," Graham said. "My view has been we can't
respond and it was unfair to respond when you don't know who you're
responding to."

Graham said the department will cooperate fully with RCMP investigators.

"While I'm very confident of the Vancouver police department's ability to
conduct internal investigation, in unique and appropriate cases, the public
interest would be enhanced by this arm's-length investigation to make sure
justice is done."

In an internal e-mail sent to staff two weeks ago, Graham admitted the
department has been "under the gun" of late. Graham discussed with staff a
wide range of issues, including a fatal car crash involving a police
cruiser and the exodus of senior officers.

On Monday, Graham said it was unfair to question him, the boss, about
morale in the department.

"I'm stopped continually by members in the street, on the elevator. We
enjoy overwhelming support," he said. "We continue to attract record
numbers of recruits. I stand by this organization. We're a quality group."

Inspector Ron Rothwell, who is in charge of the VPD's internal
investigation unit, said the sheer size of the force means internal
investigators are capable of handling complaints.

"In smaller organizations, people know each other so well, they may be more
inclined to have an outside department investigate. But we investigate
officers we've never met. No investigator in this office is put in a
position of investigating someone they have a close friendship or a
connection with," he said.

RCMP spokesman Sergeant Grant Learned said as soon as all the affidavits
from Pivot are received, Deputy Commissioner Bev Busson will consult with
senior investigators on how to proceed.

There is no way of knowing how long the investigation will take, Learned said.