ABBOTSFORD CHIEF TAKES BLAME FOR BOTCHED RAID

2 Officers Off ERT For Year After Kids See Their Dog Shot

A humbled Abbotsford police chief accepted blame yesterday for a botched
raid in which a dog was shot to death in front of terrified children at a
seven-year-old's birthday party.

Chief Constable Barry Daniel criticized his own role in the Jan. 3, 1999,
incident yesterday after two of his officers were punished for their part in
the drug raid on Ron Raber's Center Street home.

Constables Matt Sekela and David Schmirler were found guilty last week of
violating professional conduct regulations under the Police Act. Adjudicator
Peter Millward made the ruling after hearing 24 days of testimony at a
Police Public Complaints Commission hearing.

Sekela, found guilty of two counts of discreditable conduct, was suspended
for five days without pay and ordered off the emergency response team for no
less than a year.

Schmirler, found guilty of improper use of a firearm, was also ordered off
the ERT for at least a year. Millward ruled both officers must receive
specialized training before being reconsidered for the squad.

In apologizing for their errors yesterday, Daniel said he supports the
officers and called the raid ``an anomaly.''

``Things went wrong -- they sometimes do. We learn from it. We are a wiser,
stronger force and we will carry on,'' said Daniel, the senior officer in
charge on the day of the raid.

``It's one of the more difficult challenges that I've had to face as a chief
only because things went wrong and perhaps if I exercised a little command
and control it might have turned out different.

``I blame myself a lot. I share the responsibility yet I'm not facing any of
the sanctions.''

Fourteen kids and 14 adults were in the home when six balaclava-clad police
burst in shouting, ``Police! Everyone get down!''

As the partiers watched in horror, Schmirler fired two shots at Kona the pit
bull when it attacked another officer's arm.

Lawyers for the hearings have cost Abbotsford police at least $250,000.

In his sentencing submissions yesterday, commission lawyer Steven Kelliher
said the two officers' conduct ``may well have resulted in the death of a
child.''

``This behaviour is unacceptable,'' Kelliher said. ``It was almost lethally
unacceptable.''

Daniel said there is always debate among officers as to when the emergency
response team should be deployed.

``We agonize every time we use the ERT.''