POLICE COMMISSIONER KILLS DRUGS, SEX PROBE

Officer Ruled Unfit to Participate in Hearing: Casson

The B.C. Police Complaints Commission has cancelled a public hearing into
whether a Vancouver city police officer used drugs and had sex with a
prostitute.

Det. Const. Murray Phillips was accused of discreditable conduct, neglect
of duty and improper disclosure of police information between January 1998
and December 1999.

But the public interest would not be served by continuing with the process
of a public hearing, acting commissioner Benjamin Casson said in a
statement yesterday.

Phillips, who has been on sick leave from the municipal police force since
May 1999, is under the care of a psychiatrist who says he is unfit to
participate in a hearing, Casson said.

"Little is to be gained by incurring the enormous costs of proceeding with
the hearing and disclosing sensitive material that could have a negative
impact on police investigations," he said.

The allegations against Phillips surfaced in August 2001 in U.S. court
documents in the case of American fugitive James Jordan Priel, who was
living in Vancouver.

The documents accused Phillips of conducting illegal searches, falling
asleep during the search of a suspect's apartment, using cocaine and having
sex with a prostitute in a local karaoke bar.

Phillips was suspended in 1999 after an internal police department
investigation.

In an unrelated court case last year, it came to light that the Vancouver
city police made a secret deal with Phillips that allowed him to use up his
sick leave rather than face disciplinary action.

Lawyers for the police board later clarified that, under the arrangement,
Phillips would use up his sick time then attempt to apply for long-term
disability and resign by March 2004, before he reaches his retirement age.

If at any time it is determined that he is no longer ill, he is to resign.

Phillips has been getting full salary while on sick leave. He is in his
mid-40s and will be eligible to start collecting his pension at age 50,
with the amount depending on his years of service.

Casson said yesterday the maximum penalty the inquiry could impose would be
dismissal from the police department.

At the time the inquiry was announced, deputy commissioner Barbara Murphy
said the probe was necessary to restore public confidence in the police
department.

"We want to find out if the allegations are true or not and if so, what are
the appropriate consequences," Murphy said last November.

Earlier this year Murphy stunned a legislative review committee with
allegations that her boss helped broker the deal and then instructed staff
to deny it when members of the media asked.

Don Morrison resigned in May amid the allegations that the former Crown
prosecutor was too cozy with police.

Casson, a former Alberta judge, was appointed acting commissioner in July.