COPS SOUGHT PROOF

The reason for massive police raids in the city on Sept. 24, 1999, was to
bolster already "overwhelming evidence" against alleged gang members, a
fatality inquiry heard yesterday. The inquiry into the deaths of Adam
Miller, 21, and Huu Pham - who died during a police tactical raid that
morning - heard testimony from RCMP Staff Sgt. Tom Pickard.

"They felt they had overwhelming evidence at that point," Pickard said,
adding the "primary goal" was to collect physical evidence to bolster
wiretap evidence already collected.

Arrests were an additional benefit, he said.

Pickard, then a corporal with five years experience in the integrated
proceeds of crime division, said he assembled the operational plan
co-ordinating some 350 city police and RCMP officers in more than 40 raids
and warrant executions.

"My intent was there would be an overall standard procedure for every team
at every site. In my position as organizer, I had nothing to do with how a
tactical team enters a site."

Miller and Pham were in an apartment at 12925 65 St. when tactical officers
burst through the door just after 10 a.m.

A flash-bang device was tossed into the kitchen, and as the pair found
themselves perched on the railing of a fourth-floor balcony, a second was
detonated in the air outside near the suite. The two young men plunged to
their deaths.

Tom Engel, the lawyer for the Miller family, has contended the flash-bang
thrown near the balcony as Miller and Pham climbed over the railing
contributed to their fall.

Engel also contends officers entering the suite feared a violent response
by alleged gang members inside, and conducted the raid with excessive force.

On the morning of the operation, cops were briefed at K-Division, and
Pickard said they were told to wear body armour and clearly wear police
identification.

Most cops at the morning briefing were aware that the alleged gang members
might mistake tactical officers for attacking rival gang members, Pickard
said yesterday. "I thought that myself," he said. "For those investigators
involved, that was something we were all very much aware of."

They also worried escalating street violence could, in turn, spill over to
police officers during a raid, Pickard said.

Pickard's testimony echoed that of Staff Sgt. Bill Newton, who said senior
officers worried alleged gang members could "overreact" if they didn't know
it was cops kicking in the door.

He testified cops had little indication suspects that day might be prone to
harming police officers, although a few were considered extremely dangerous.

The inquiry continues June 3.