A-G ORDERS REVIEW OF 'POWERFUL' TACTICAL TEAMS

Complaints Commission Finds Officers Unprofessional In 1999 Abbotsford
Drug Raid.

Attorney-General Andrew Petter has called for a review of the use of
police tactical teams after an adjudicator criticized two Abbotsford
officers for a 1999 drug raid in which a dog was shot dead in front of
14 children at a birthday party.

Retired Supreme Court justice Peter Millward, who sat as an
adjudicator at a Police Complaints Commission public hearing, found
the two officers guilty of unprofessional conduct.

Calling the Abbotsford tactical team "a powerful and dangerous weapon"
that "is not readily deterred or deflected," Millward raised further
questions about the actions of emergency response teams.

"In my view, a careful reconsideration of the use of tactical teams,
and the circumstances under which such use may be authourized, is
required," he wrote in a decision released Wednesday.

Later, Petter asked his ministry's police services branch to initiate
a review of tactical teams, ministry spokesman Chris Beresford said.

"[Petter] is satisfied that recommendation should be followed up on,"
Beresford said. "We should look at the over-all commission of these
teams, and that is what the review will do."

The public hearing, which was launched to address complaints about
police actions during the raid, will reconvene Monday to consider
penalties for Constables Matthew Sekela and David Schmirler.

Millward's decision contradicts an earlier internal review, conducted
by New Westminster police chief Peter Young, that concluded none of
the officers involved in the raid was guilty of wrongdoing.

Millward ruled that Sekela, who led the six-member tactical team, was
guilty of two counts of discreditable conduct and Constable David
Schmirler, who shot the dog, was guilty of improper use of a firearm
during the July 3, 1999 raid.

He was also critical of senior police officers, including Police Chief
Barry Daniel, who had ultimate responsibility for the team's entry
into the house. He noted Daniel's testimony at the public hearing was
"less than compelling."

Said Millward: "Had any reasonable care been taken to secure the
[surveillance] information ... required before undertaking an operation of
this
kind, clearly, the entry would not have taken place that afternoon and the
traumatic confrontation, with its lamentable consequences, would have been
avoided."

Members of the emergency response team were dispatched to Ronald
Raber's rental home on Center Street -- which had been raided before
- -- to execute a drug warrant.

Fourteen adults and 14 children, aged one month to nine years, were at
the house for a birthday party for Raber's seven-year-old son, Scott,
but despite hours of surveillance, police said they did not know so
many people were inside.

When police entered, a pit bull terrier bit an officer on the upper
left arm, and Schmirler came to his colleague's aid by shooting the
dog twice.

At the shocking public hearing, witnesses testified that the dog's
blood splattered children eating cake in the living-room and mother
Christy Homan as she breast-fed her baby.

"It was gross. There were chunks of meat from the dog and big globs of
blood on the [infant] car seat and the baby blanket... It came up my
left leg. It just splattered all up me and my child I was holding,"
Homan told the hearing. "I was in a panic shock. All I could think of
was my kids."

Millward also noted that Sekela talked to Raber earlier in the day and
knew he was getting a birthday present for his son.

"The evidence establishes, on an overwhelming balance of
probabilities, that Constable Sekela knew or ought reasonably to have
known of the presence of children in the house."

He added that Sekela failed to ensure the house was under proper
surveillance.

Millward also ruled that Schmirler overreacted when he shot the dog.
"To instantly fire two shots toward the dog without considering
alternatives or comprehending the surroundings was to act without
reasonable grounds."

Ron Raber's ex-wife Lori Voth said her son Scott, now eight, and her
daughter Deneen, now five, were traumatized by the violence that
erupted during a visit to their father's house.

"Basically, the two kids are scarred for life from this," Voth said
Wednesday.

"Scott was crying bitterly that his dog was shot. Their poor heads
were just spinning. They had to sleep with me that night."

But Voth, who has tried to get counselling for the children, does not
blame police for the situation and does not think the officers should
be punished.

She believes the police were just doing their job looking for drugs,
and acted in self-defence when the dog attacked.

After the raid, a male tenant was charged with several drug offences,
including possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking and
possession of heroin.

Millward dismissed complaints against three other Abbotsford officers
connected to the raid.

But, while noting the tactical team encountered no resistance, he
concluded it should not be used "capriciously."

Abbotsford police refused Wednesday to comment on the ruling. "We're
going over the hearing results and will make a comment after that,"
spokesman Constable Dale Cresswell said.

He said Sekela and Schmirler remain on active duty.

Young, the New Westminster chief who cleared the two officers and
their co-workers of any misconduct, also declined to comment until the
punishment is meted out Monday.

The penalties could range from discipline to dismissal.

However, New Westminster media liaison Constable Ivan Chu defended the
use of tactical teams -- specially trained officers who often dress in
camouflage gear and carry powerful weapons, and are called out for
high-risk calls.

"The use of tactical teams is the safest for everyone involved," Chu
said. "He [Millward] doesn't understand what the tactical team is for."

Simon Fraser University criminologist Neil Boyd said tactical teams
were created to respond to dangerous situations, such as
hostage-taking and kidnapping.

He said the question Millward appears to be raising is whether it is
appropriate to use these teams in cases of drug use and
distribution.

PAST COMPLAINTS

Complaints against some emergency response teams:

- - March, 2000: During a training exercise, the Vancouver police
emergency response team scared resident Kerry Constable when a burly
man got out of an unmarked police car in Gastown wearing black
fatigues and brandishing a submachinegun. A sergeant apologized for
upsetting the woman, but said practices are essential.

- - In January, 1996, a Surrey couple complained the RCMP emergency
response team got the wrong address when officers broke into their
home and held them at gunpoint while searching for cocaine and firearms.

- - After the Stanley Cup hockey championship in 1994, members of a
Vancouver police emergency response team fired tear-gas rounds and
plastic bullets from two Arwen 37 weapons when a mob rampaged through
the downtown area. One man sued after being struck in the head by a
plastic bullet.

- - An RCMP emergency response team scared a Coquitlam family in 1993
when it mistakenly raided their home. The husband and a son were
attacked by three masked police officers in the backyard, and the
family dog was shot to death. The mother and younger son were
terrified inside the home.

- - They were innocent men, but Feng Hua Zhang was handcuffed and
kicked, and Wai Shuen Wong was pepper-sprayed when the Vancouver
police emergency response team broke into their home on Feb. 9, 1992.
They sued, and received a small financial settlement and an apology.
However, the police were cleared of wrongdoing.

- - A former North Vancouver RCMP officer was cleared of using excessive
force in March 1990 when, as a member of the emergency response team,
he shot a suspect who answered his door while holding a TV channel
changer in his hand.