[news] Judge slams police after bar scuffle with bikers

[ron]

bc cops have been openly criticized quite a bit in the Province recently.
any theories on why that might be?

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2003 11:31:53 -0800 (PST)
From: sabate <sabate at ziplip.com>
To: copb-van-l at lists.resist.ca
Subject: [copb-van-l] Judge slams police after bar scuffle with bikers

Judge slams police after bar scuffle with bikers

Adrienne Tanner
The Province

Wednesday, December 10, 2003

The bikers who met for drinks in Prince George's Generator bar during the annual motorcycle drag races last summer were markedly well-behaved.

The actions of police were another matter.

In a decision last week, Judge Randy Walker harshly criticized the "unnecessary, excessive, gratuitous and unprofessional" behaviour of RCMP officers who arrested two visiting Hells Angels prospects June 20.

"In my view, this constitutes a kind of wild-west mentality that this community does not need," said Walker, tossing out the charges against Mission-area bikers Lee Wiscombe and Jon Charles Tenenbein.

Wiscombe was pepper-sprayed at point-blank range while lying face down in handcuffs with an officer's boot on his head.

Tenenbein, whom the judge ruled was wrongfully arrested for pestering police, was slammed into a wall and pepper-sprayed.

The court decision describes the tension in the packed bar shortly before the altercation between the bikers and three inexperienced, burly police officers.

Wiscombe's troubles began when he walked past an officer and allegedly shoulder-checked him. The rookie officer immediately arrested him. There was no evidence proving Wiscombe struck any of the officers, Walker wrote.

The judge was clearly appalled at the arrest techniques. He referred to testimony that police are trained not to use the powerful spray in close quarters for fear of puncturing a suspect's eye membrane.

"Interestingly, this seems to have escaped the notice of Const. [Joe] Kohut, a 13-year veteran of the RCMP, who seemed prepared to spray anything that moved," Walker wrote of another office who arrived on the scene.

He acquitted Tenenbein of obstructing a police officer on grounds that he was unlawfully arrested.

The judge dismissed an assault charge against Wiscombe because his Charter rights were violated.

"Those officers who consistently, and without fanfare, display patience, tolerance and understated response, ought to be admired and told so," the judge said. "Those who adopt the tactics of Const. Kohut need to be reminded there is a consequence."
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