PUBLIC HEARING TO EXAMINE CONDUCT OF 6 OFFICERS

B.C.'s Police Complaint Commissioner Calls For A Hearing Into An Incident
In Which Vancouver Police Are Alleged To Have Trashed A Drug Suspect's Home

A public hearing has been ordered into complaints against six Vancouver
police officers alleged to have trashed a drug suspect's home on Commercial
Drive more than two years ago.

B.C. police complaint commissioner Don Morrison announced the hearing
Wednesday, emphasizing that it is not because Vancouver police Chief
Constable Terry Blythe's "handling of the matter was in any way inadequate
or improper."

"However, the police complaint commissioner must apply a different test in
deciding if holding a public hearing is in the public interest," Morrison
said in a release.

Morrison ordered the hearing after reviewing the report of an investigation
on the incident conducted by the Saanich police department.

On March 3, 1998, six mostly junior Vancouver police officers, five of them
women, allegedly used a battering ram to knock down the door of a
Commercial Drive apartment belonging to Joseph Denault.

According to Morrison, the officers are alleged to have:

- - Caused unnecessary damage to property of the house's occupant, or aided
and abetted in causing such damage;

- - Failed in their duty as police officers to prevent crimes, namely the
destruction of personal property at the house;

- - Made false, misleading or inaccurate statements during a criminal trial
in provincial court.

Constables Jodyne Dyck, Elizabeth Miller, Katrina O'Reilly, Denise Barry
and Jeff Fletcher, along with Sergeant Sharron Bayley, were
investigated. The first four officers had less than three years of
experience in the department when the incident occurred, while Bayley had
22 years of experience.

The six officers are alleged to have sprayed shaving cream around the
bathroom, emptied bottles of liquor, torn photographs and exposed film from
a camera, according to court documents.

With the exception of the liquor dumping, none of the officers owned up to
causing any of the damage and refrained from accusing each other of the
vandalism.

Provincial court Judge Herbert Weitzel threw out the drug-trafficking
charges against Denault and two other men because he had problems with the
way the officers behaved in the apartment and because he found their
evidence "completely lacking in credibility."

As a result of their actions, the officers were placed on administrative
duties for the nine-month duration of the Saanich police's investigation.
No criminal charges were laid.

However, two officers received three-day suspensions without pay. In
addition, the standard 12-month supervisory probation period for one of
those officers was extended by a further six months.

Blythe, who recommended the independent investigation, said he was
disappointed Wednesday that a hearing had been ordered, believing the
matter had been concluded.

"I recognize, however, the independence of the police complaint
commissioner and appreciate the test applied to a file by the police
complaint commissioner is somewhat different than the standard which
applies to the disciplinary authority," Blythe said in a prepared statement.

"It is my hope that this process will be completed as quickly as possible
to limit the uncertainty and disruption it creates for the individual
members of the department."

Blythe said all six officers will receive remedial training in the
gathering and giving of evidence. That training is related to the officers
giving of testimony in provincial court.

Retired provincial court Judge Kenneth Scherling will act as adjudicator
for the hearing. He was named by associate chief justice Patrick Dohm of
the B.C. Supreme Court and appointed by Morrison.

Scherling will set the dates for the public hearing on Jan. 23 at the
Federal Court of Canada on West Georgia Street.