News (Media Awareness Project) - CN BC: Police Officer Who Shot Dog Fights Against Reprimand |
Title: | CN BC: Police Officer Who Shot Dog Fights Against Reprimand |
Published On: | 2000-07-12 |
Source: | Vancouver Sun (CN BC) |
Fetched On: | 2008-09-03 16:28:29 |
POLICE OFFICER WHO SHOT DOG FIGHTS AGAINST REPRIMAND
An Abbotsford police officer recently found guilty of discreditable
conduct for shooting a dog at a children's birthday party has filed
legal action to have the decision quashed.
Constable David Schmirler, who took part in a 1999 emergency response
team raid on the Abbotsford home of a drug suspect, claims his rights
were violated and is asking a B.C. Supreme Court judge to quash the
June 29 decision that resulted in the officer being suspended for a
year from the team.
In court documents filed Tuesday, Schmirler claims retired Supreme
Court justice Peter Millward - the adjudicator at the public hearing
into complaints against police - violated his constitutional rights
because Millward was not independent from the prosecutor.
The officer is also seeking to have the court declare that Don
Morrison, the police complaints commissioner, exceeded his
jurisdiction in ordering a public inquiry into the incident.
Schmirler noted that independent police investigators found that the
officer did not commit a disciplinary default based on the same
evidence heard by the adjudicator, so the decision to hold a public
hearing was patently unreasonable.
The legal action also seeks to have the judge declare that Section
60.1 (2) of the Police Act, as well as the method by which the
adjudicator was appointed and paid, violated the principles of
fundamental justice.
On Jan. 3 last year, six members of the Abbotsford emergency response
team executed a search warrant on the home of Ron Raber to look for
narcotics. A male tenant was later charged with several drug offences,
including possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking and
possession of heroin.
At the moment police entered armed with rifles, Raber was cutting his
seven-year-old son's birthday cake. He was surrounded by 14 adults
and 14 children, aged two weeks to nine years old.
When police entered, a pit bull terrier bit an officer on the upper
left arm, and Schmirler shot the dog twice.
The police complaints adjudicator found Schmirler guilty of improper
use of a firearm, and Constable Matthew Sekela, who led the six-member
tactical team, was found guilty of two counts of discreditable conduct.
Schmirler's legal action will be the second court challenge of the
powers of the police complaints commissioner, an office created two
years ago to investigate complaints against municipal police forces in
B.C.
An Abbotsford police officer recently found guilty of discreditable
conduct for shooting a dog at a children's birthday party has filed
legal action to have the decision quashed.
Constable David Schmirler, who took part in a 1999 emergency response
team raid on the Abbotsford home of a drug suspect, claims his rights
were violated and is asking a B.C. Supreme Court judge to quash the
June 29 decision that resulted in the officer being suspended for a
year from the team.
In court documents filed Tuesday, Schmirler claims retired Supreme
Court justice Peter Millward - the adjudicator at the public hearing
into complaints against police - violated his constitutional rights
because Millward was not independent from the prosecutor.
The officer is also seeking to have the court declare that Don
Morrison, the police complaints commissioner, exceeded his
jurisdiction in ordering a public inquiry into the incident.
Schmirler noted that independent police investigators found that the
officer did not commit a disciplinary default based on the same
evidence heard by the adjudicator, so the decision to hold a public
hearing was patently unreasonable.
The legal action also seeks to have the judge declare that Section
60.1 (2) of the Police Act, as well as the method by which the
adjudicator was appointed and paid, violated the principles of
fundamental justice.
On Jan. 3 last year, six members of the Abbotsford emergency response
team executed a search warrant on the home of Ron Raber to look for
narcotics. A male tenant was later charged with several drug offences,
including possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking and
possession of heroin.
At the moment police entered armed with rifles, Raber was cutting his
seven-year-old son's birthday cake. He was surrounded by 14 adults
and 14 children, aged two weeks to nine years old.
When police entered, a pit bull terrier bit an officer on the upper
left arm, and Schmirler shot the dog twice.
The police complaints adjudicator found Schmirler guilty of improper
use of a firearm, and Constable Matthew Sekela, who led the six-member
tactical team, was found guilty of two counts of discreditable conduct.
Schmirler's legal action will be the second court challenge of the
powers of the police complaints commissioner, an office created two
years ago to investigate complaints against municipal police forces in
B.C.
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