OFFICER'S USE OF NIGHTSTICK ON MAN CRITICIZED

The officer who arrested Kenneth Allen for assaulting a streetcar
driver should not have used his nightstick to drag the limp man by the
neck through the police station, an inquest jury was told Friday.

At the time of the 1991 incident, nightsticks could be used by police
in three situations, the court heard. They could be used to prevent an
officer from being overpowered when violently attacked; to prevent an
arrested person from being taken from police custody; or to disarm a
dangerous person armed with a weapon.

The policy concerning the use of nightsticks was amended in March,
1993 to include a statement: "members must use extreme care to avoid
serious injury to a person."

Allen, who was high on cocaine, was brought to 52 Division station at
11:41 p.m. on Nov. 29, 1991. Upon arrival, Allen, 32, went limp and
was dragged through the station with a nightstick under his neck.

An ambulance was called and paramedics tried to revive Allen before
taking him to hospital around 12:12 a.m. He was soon pronounced dead.

The inquest is looking into the cause of Allen's death -- the.
injuries from the nightstick, the cocaine he had ingested or a
combination of both.

Constable Chris Ellis, who was the booking officer the night Allen was
brought in, was responsible for videotaping Allen's stay at the station.

While under cross-examination by Sam Willoughby, lawyer for Allen's
common-law wife, Ellis said he had never seen an officer drag a person
with a nightstick by the neck.

Ellis agreed with Willoughby that from what he saw that evening, there
was no need to use the nightstick.

"Have you ever seen a white man dragged like that?" asked Peter
Rosenthal, lawyer for the Black Action Defence Committee.

"No," Ellis responded.

Rosenthal then asked: "Would you agree then that there is at least a
possibility that Mr. AIlens race and class" was why he was dragged
through the station with the nightstick?

"I wouldn't agree," Ellis said.

The inquest continues today.