POLICE PROBE IN FATAL RAID FAULTED
RCMP Report Targets Suspicions Of On-duty Drinking

Winnipeg police failed to properly address suspicions that vice
officers were drinking the night Abe Hiebert was shot, an RCMP report
states.

"They did not investigate in-depth or thoroughly enough to either
prove or dispel fully the issue of alcohol consumption," says the
report by RCMP Staff Sgt. William Anderson, then head of RCMP's
serious crimes unit in Manitoba.

In inquest testimony yesterday, Anderson said the entire investigation
would benefit from a deeper look into drinking at the vice office.

"It could lend credibility to the investigation . . . by finding what
exactly was going on," said Anderson, a 27-year veteran of the Mounties.

Anderson reviewed the Winnipeg police investigation into Hiebert's
death. Hiebert was shot and killed as he tried to repel officers with
pepper spray and a baseball bat during a drug raid on his home Dec.
16, 1997. The inquest has heard that five of the eight officers
involved in the raid drank alcohol at a party earlier in their shift,
as did seven of nine other vice officers on duty.

The inquest adjourned yesterday after 14 days. It resumes for three
days on May 23.

In his report, received as evidence yesterday, Anderson states the
issue of drinking on duty was too important to be sidestepped.

"The consumption of alcohol by some members of the W.P.S. involved in
the shooting must be addressed fully and comprehensively. It is
paramount that this be a major part of the investigation," Anderson
wrote.

His report also said Winnipeg homicide detectives should have taken
more written statements throughout the investigation and should have
asked follow-up questions of all eight officers involved in the fatal
raid. Statements should have been taken from bartenders at the Canada
Customs party where the officers had been drinking, he wrote.

He also called for blood analysis from a towel used to wipe a leg
wound of Det. Sgt. Garry Schmidt, to determine his blood-alcohol
level. However, he noted at the end of his report that experts said it
was unlikely such a test would be successful.

A phone-call transcript in which a vice constable says: "Get rid of
this shit" gave him concerns as well.

"I felt it was a little bit ambiguous," he testified. "That would lend
more credibility to officers if it was clarified."

Anderson's report was not sent to Winnipeg police. Instead, RCMP Chief
Supt. Bob Embury summarized concerns in a letter.

"The Winnipeg Police Service investigation was professional, competent
and thorough, with only minor issues that could be further clarified,"
the letter states.

Embury outlined four chief concerns, which were later addressed by
Winnipeg police. More police were questioned about drinking, and a
peer assistance counsellor was asked if he noticed officers had been
drinking. Wilma Cameron, who was in the house with Hiebert at the time
of the raid, was reinterviewed. As well, further tests were done on
blood splattered on Hiebert's door.