[news] VPD cops get criminal records for brutality

Tue Jan 6 12:41:14 PST 2004

-------- Original Message --------
Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2004 09:21:25 -0800 (PST)
From: chris at resist.ca

Tuesday » January 6 » 2004

Four cops slapped with criminal records

Monday, January 05, 2004

Provincial Court Herb Weitzel called the escalation of violence in the
assaults a 'mob mentality.'

VANCOUVER (CP) - A provincial court judge handed out sentences Monday
ranging from house arrest to an absolute discharge to six Vancouver police
officers convicted of beating suspected drug dealers.

Judge Herb Weitzel said a mob mentality governed the incident a year ago
when the officers took three men to Stanley Park and systematically beat
them.

Constables Duncan Gemmell, Christopher Cronmiller, Raymond Gardner, James
Kenney, Gabriel Kojima and Brandon Steele each pleaded guilty last month
to three counts of common assault in return for the Crown dropping more
serious charges.

Each officer was sentenced separately, based on the role he played in the
assaults.

Gemmell, the most senior officer and a ringleader in the beatings, was
sentenced to 60 days of house arrest and six months probation. Kojima, who
used his police baton on the victims, was given a month's house arrest and
six months of probation.

Gardner was handed a nine-month suspended sentence and ordered to perform
50 hours of community service.

Cronmiller received a conditional discharge along with six months
probation, while Steele received a suspended sentence and six months
probation.

Kenny, an acting sergeant, got an absolute discharge for standing by while
the others took part in the beatings.

Kenny and Cronmiller were also spared criminal records.

Prosecutor Robert Gourlay said after the hearing the Crown would study the
sentences before deciding whether to appeal.

The Crown had suggested a possible sentence of house arrest lasting up to
90 days but noted the officers could face a maximum of six months in jail.

The defence, arguing the men suffered a momentary laps in judgment,
suggested conditional discharges, which would have meant no jail time or
criminal record.

The six officers picked up three men, all with lengthy criminal records,
in downtown Vancouver early Jan. 14 and took them to a secluded spot in
nearby Stanley Park, where they were assaulted.

"Rather than being a heat of the moment situation, it became a situation
of mob mentality," Weitzel said.

A police recruit, now a full-fledged officer, was present at the incident
and reported it, which led to charges.

"In this whole sordid set of circumstances, he is the one bright light ...
when police became themselves criminals by virtue of their behaviour,"
Weitzel said.

A lawyer representing the beating victims in a civil suit said the judge
should have treated all six officers the same.

"I thought the judge did quite a marvellous job of cutting and dicing,"
said Phil Rankin.

"If you accept that people acted as a mob, then why should you distinguish
between the one that kicks and the one that pushes and the one that
pinches?"

Rankin said his clients believe all six should have been jailed, which
would have happened to them if the roles had been reversed.

The officers still face a police disciplinary hearing later this month.

A police spokeswoman has said criminal records would not necessarily bar
the officers from continuing on the job.

Police union president Tom Stamatakis said the officers should be allowed
to keep their jobs.

"The judge himself found they were of good character," he said. "They're
good people. They made a mistake.

"People get second chances all the time, many, many people in all walks of
life, including many other people in other professions where the public
place their trust."
© Copyright 2004 The Canadian Press, Global BC