FIRED OFFICERS LOSE APPEAL

VANCOUVER -- Two former Vancouver police officers have lost their
appeal against their dismissal from police duty for their attack on
three suspected drug dealers in Stanley Park.

The adjudicator for the Police Complaints Commission said that serious
police misconduct and abuse of trust in the beatings warranted
upholding the dismissal of Constables Duncan Gemmell and Gabriel Kojima.

Vancouver Police Chief Jamie Graham formally dismissed the pair from
police duty for their misconduct in his own public statement of
apology in 2004.

Both former officers pleaded guilty in provincial court last year to
taking part in the assaults in Stanley Park in January 2003, and were
sentenced to month-long terms of house arrest.

The two were part of a group of six Vancouver police officers involved
in the attack. Four other officers involved, Constables Raymond
Gardner, Christopher Cronmiller, Brandon Steele and James Kenney, each
received 20-day suspensions.

The adjudicator for the Police Complaints Commission echoed Mr.
Graham's words in his report published yesterday.

"Defenceless members of the public were assaulted without
provocation," adjudicator Donald Clancy said. "I find that the
misconduct of both of the respondents was such that they are
unsuitable for service as police officers.

"I regretfully conclude that Constable Gemmell and Constable Kojima
must be dismissed. If not, there is a danger that, in the public mind,
all police officers will be seen to be permitted to behave
inappropriately. . . . The police are not above the law. . . . They
must not be seen to be able to act improperly and yet escape suffering
the full consequences of their illegal or inappropriate conduct."

He said in his report that failure to demand a higher standard of
conduct from police officers could lead to an erosion of public
confidence in police forces.