JAIL TERM SOUGHT FOR POLICE WHO BEAT SUSPECTS

Even A Short Sentence Would Likely End The Careers Of Six Vancouver Officers

VANCOUVER -- With their shoulders squared and their chins held high, six
young police officers sat in court yesterday, in seats usually occupied by
the drug dealers they so often busted.

But instead of testifying against accused criminals, this time they were in
the prisoner's box, listening to a Crown prosecutor ask a Provincial Court
judge to sentence them to prison for their part in the beating of three
suspected drug dealers.

The six Vancouver Police Department constables have all pleaded guilty to
charges of assault for an incident that took place in Stanley Park last
January, after Jason Desjardins, Barry Lawrie and Grant Wilson were picked
up at Granville Street Mall.

Court has heard that the three men have nearly 100 convictions between
them, and were arrested that night on breach of peace charges after police
became suspicious they were dealing drugs on Vancouver's downtown
entertainment strip.

But instead of taking the three suspects to the police station, the
officers went to Third Beach in Stanley Park, where they pulled them out of
a police wagon in a dark parking lot, one after the other, and roughed them up.

The three men, two of whom are now in jail, have launched a civil suit
against the six police officers, claiming they were badly beaten that
night. Defence lawyers have argued the incident was more like a tough
warning that got briefly out of hand.

Crown counsel Robert Gourlay urged the judge to sentence all six officers
to short jail terms, saying a conditional discharge would not be adequate
punishment considering the offence.

He said that although the officers had different levels of involvement in
the assaults, they were part of a group and should share responsibility
equally.

"The most appropriate sentence may be a conditional sentence with terms, or
a suspended sentence with probation order," said Mr. Gourlay, who pointed
out the sentence could range from a conditional discharge to 90 days in jail.

Even a short jail term would likely lead to the expulsion of the six
officers from the Vancouver Police Department. They are currently on paid
leave, awaiting the outcome of their trial and a VPD disciplinary hearing
in January.

The six officers were all part of a team that patrols the downtown core.
Most of their duty, court was told, involved dealing with the crimes of
drug use and drug trafficking.

Mr. Gourlay said the six officers heaped verbal abuse on the three men
while shoving and punching them. An officer struck one man once on his leg
with a baton, and another prodded a man with the instep of his boot.

Mr. Gourlay said the intent of the trip to the park was to convince the
three men to stay away from Granville Street -- an area that is plagued by
drug dealing -- but he said that when they got physical, the police took
the law into their own hands, committing assaults and violating the public
trust.

Mr. Gourlay read briefly from victim impact statements filed with the court
by Mr. Lawrie and Mr. Wilson, who are in jail on unrelated matters. He said
Mr. Desjardins could not be located.

"I still get sick every time I hear a siren," wrote Mr. Lawrie. "I get
panic attacks whenever I see a uniform.

"This last year has been hell . . . and I know I'm going to feel this way
for a long time," an excerpt from a lengthy, handwritten letter said.

Mr. Gourlay said Mr. Wilson's remarks were much shorter and quoted him as
saying: "I am scared stiff about seeing these individuals in the future."

The six officers, seated side by side and all wearing dark grey suits,
listened, but showed no emotion.

Leading off for the six defence lawyers, David Crossin, who represents
Constable Gabriel Kojima, urged the court not to hand down jail sentences.

He said that could lead to dismissal from the VPD, and described Constable
Kojima as a promising young officer who will prove to be a credit to both
the force and the community.

He said Constable Kojima, 25, had been a police officer for only about a
year when the "so-called beating" occurred.

Mr. Crossin said the police team suspected the three men were dealing drugs
that night, but arrested them for breach of peace. Instead of taking them
in, however, they decided to run them out of the downtown area and release
them after giving them a lecture.

"Although the officers acted badly and unlawfully at the park. . . there
was no intention to inflict bodily harm."

He said there was no plan or conspiracy to take the men to the park and
beat them.

"There was a suggestion by some [officers] that they needed a good talking
to. . . the verbal tirade. . . that was given. . . had to fit the audience.
These three individuals, between the three of them, had over 100 criminal
convictions," Mr. Crossin argued.

"That is where these officers lost their professionalism, lost their cool
and as individuals and as a group, broke the law."