Man dies after Taser shock by police at Vancouver airport

[china]

Those in charge of the RCMP must be held accountable

Those in charge of the RCMP must be held accountable




Vancouver SunApril 29, 2009



Ian Mulgrew ("RCMP backtracking comes too late," April 27) is right on. It is quite clear that the RCMP has had one false, unified answer to cover up the inexcusably brutal treatment of Robert Dziekanski, an innocent newcomer to Canada. It has deceived the public and has expected everyone to move on and forget.
Thanks to the media for pursuing this story and seeking answers from those in charge of the RCMP, who must be held accountable.
Olga Kudyba
North Vancouver
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

 

[china]

RCMP backtracking comes too late
High-ranking Mounties should be made to answer for coverup after death of Robert Dziekanski
By Ian Mulgrew, Vancouver sunApril 27, 2009


RCMP Assistant Commissioner Peter German should be called to testify at the Braidwood Commission.

Photograph by: Ian Lindsay, Vancouver Sun, Vancouver sun
Slowly, but surely, the Braidwood Commission into the Taser-related death of Robert Dziekanski is climbing the RCMP chain of command to determine who in authority countenanced the coverup that occurred.
Just as Watergate began with an inept burglary and grew to ensnare the president, so the inept response by four dumb cops at Vancouver Airport on Oct. 14, 2007 is being eclipsed by the revelations of what followed.
The testimony last week of the RCMP "media relations" officers who left falsehoods uncorrected for more than a year was startling.
In the hours after Dziekanski's death, RCMP Sgt. Pierre Lemaitre, the initial spokesman in the case, told reporters the Polish immigrant had been stunned twice when, in fact, the Taser had been deployed five times.
He went on to describe Dziekanski threatening the officers, swinging an object at them and struggling violently after the first Taser jolt had no effect -- even though a bystander's video showed otherwise.
Lemaitre said he only repeated what he was told by Cpl. Dale Carr, who was working with the investigators at the scene.
So embarrassing was Lemaitre's testimony, it prompted current senior RCMP spokesman Sgt. Tim Shields to quickly apologize for the force.
Like the rest of the RCMP's backtracking during these proceedings, however, it comes 19 months too late.
Carr, who took over from Lemaitre as spokesman, said he never corrected the initial statements because he was following orders from Supt. Wayne Rideout, the man then in charge of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team.
The inaccuracies were corrected 14 months later, in December 2008, when Crown counsel announced it would not lay charges against any of the four Mounties.
Rideout ran the investigation into Dziekanski's death and was responsible for the report used to make that charge decision.
When he appears before the inquiry, he faces some tough questions.
For instance, why were the four officers not confronted with the amateur video and asked to explain the blatant contradictions between it and their version of events?
After 18 years as an investigator, Rideout could not help but notice the glaring incongruities. Not to go back and re-interview the Mounties in light of the video appears incompetent.
I am curious to see whether this veteran career cop is prepared to wear this botch-up or whether he will point upwards, too. That's why it's not just Rideout we should hear from.
I'd like to see on the stand former RCMP superintendent Ward Clapham, hired in the summer of last year to run the BC Transit cops.
He was in charge of the Richmond detachment, whose officers were involved, and, at 49, he retired suddenly last April, less than six months after the Dziekanski incident.
Did he agree with the strategy to leave the public record uncorrected? How does he feel about the conduct of his men? I bet he could shed a lot of light on these events.
But let's cut to the chase.
The man ultimately responsible for the RCMP response to this tragedy was Assistant Commissioner Peter German.
He's the only Mountie whose ambition to one day occupy the Commissioner's office in Ottawa was threatened by the Dziekanski scandal. If there is a Richard Nixon in this drama, it is German.
I'd like to see him on the stand explaining his role. Or is he going to say this outrageous incident didn't warrant his personal interest?
He must have approved Rideout's don't-tell-the-public strategy given the international furore Dziekanski's death was generating. The RCMP is a paramilitary organization and no one does anything that isn't approved by the officer in charge.
This was German's watch. The buck stopped with him.
So I say come on down, Assistant Commissioner, and tell us about your role in this entire sordid affair. Inquiring minds would love to know.

​

 

[china]

So I say come on down, Assistant Commissioner, and tell us about your role in this entire sordid affair. Inquiring minds would love to know.
imulgrew@vancouversun.com
We should demend that he tells about the role he played in this cover up .

 

[china]

RCMP's pink slip

Coverup in Dziekanski's death has shaken Canada's faith in the Mounties, the justice system and law and order
By GREG WESTON
Last Updated: 26th April 2009, 3:21am


As the inquiry into the shameful RCMP stun-gun death of Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver airport increasingly becomes a parade of Mounties up to their tunics in horse manure, at issue is far more than shocks, lies and videotape.
It is about just how badly broken the federal force has become, and the lasting damage to both our justice system and the public's faith in law and order.
For most Canadians, the Dziekanski inquiry long ago stopped being about what four Mounties armed with 250,000 volts did to a hapless Polish traveller who arrived at Vancouver Airport on Oct. 14, 2007, to visit his mom.
All those sickening details of his final seconds with the RCMP welcoming party are on the now famous amateur video shot by a private citizen who thankfully happened on the scene.
Instead, the inquiry is all about the Mounties trying to explain why they repeatedly zapped a confused man holding a stapler, and writhing on the floor.
And when it was all over and Dziekanski was dead, how was it the national police force, sworn to uphold the truth, "misinformed" the public about the deadly encounter?
Last month, the inquiry heard RCMP testimony so at odds with the video of Dziekanski's death that most ordinary folk must have wondered, just how stupid do they think the public is?
This past week, the force finally admitted what has been apparent since the video was first pried from RCMP clutches (under the threat of legal action) weeks after the tragedy.
"We found that there was some information that was provided and made public that was not accurate," RCMP Sgt. Tim Shields told reporters outside the inquiry room last week.
"For those inaccuracies, we apologize and we are sorry." Talk about too little too late.
Some of those "inaccuracies" included such minor issues as depicting Dziekanski as a raging crazy person who had been struggling with three police officers, swinging an object over his head, when he was downed by two jolts from the Taser.
Turns out he had a stapler at his side (not overhead), and his only contact with the Mounties was after he was on the floor in pain from the first of five (not two) 50,000-volt hits, and four (not three) burly cops piled on him, one on his neck.
So much misinformation from police involved in the incident might have explained how the RCMP media relations officers came to feed the same crock to reporters and the public.
But last week, one of those officers admitted he and a colleague from the PR department had watched the video before briefing the media.
RECORD NOT CORRECTED
They were later ordered by a superior officer not to correct the record, supposedly to protect potential evidence, including the video.
RCMP Commissioner William Elliott recently asked the public not to jump to any conclusions, and to have sympathy for his position.
All of which can only damage the image and morale of a force already in the dumps after years of misguided management from the commissioner's office down.
Imagine how embarrassing and demoralizing the flimflam from the Dziekanski inquiry must be for all the devoted men and women who serve with distinction on the national force.
But the effects of this sordid affair go far beyond the RCMP.
Every day in courtrooms across the country, citizens accused of all manner of wrongdoing have their fates decided in large part by the word of the cops.
Police being truthful is obviously a cornerstone of our legal system, essential to keep the scales of justice balanced and fair to accused, victims and society alike.
It is equally important that the cops be seen to be telling the truth -- a society that loses trust in the police, quickly loses respect for the law.
Unfortunately, no matter how the Dziekanski inquiry ends, it is unlikely most Canadians will take away a lasting impression of cops telling the whole truth and nothing but.
Let's face it: Were it not for the amateur video, there is a good chance Dziekanski's death would have been quietly filed as another routine case of police using a Taser to defend themselves in the line of duty.
Last fall, on the eve of the inquiry, Commissioner Elliott said his force was "anxious to participate to the fullest extent possible.
"We cannot provide effective policing services to communities without the support of those communities ... We have to be held accountable."
A good place to start might be a shower of pink slips, or one obvious resignation.

 

[china]

Two senior Mounties to testify at inquiry into Dziekanski's Taser death

By Neal Hall, Vancouver SunApril 14, 2009






Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski is seen in the arrivals area of the Vancouver airport in this video footage October 14, 2007.

Photograph by: Paul Pritchard, Reuters Files




VANCOUVER – Two senior media relations Mounties will have to testify at the Braidwood Inquiry, which is probing the Tasering and subsequent death of Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver International Airport in 2007.
Helen Roberts, the lawyer representing the RCMP at the inquiry, suggested that the inquiry did not need call Cpl. Dale Carr and Sgt. Pierre Lemaitre as witnesses because they had no direct knowledge of the events leading to Dziekanski’s death at about 1:30 a.m. on Oct. 14, 2007.
The lawyer also pointed out to Commissioner Thomas Braidwood, a retired judge, that he earlier said he was not interested in probing the adequacy or quality of the homicide investigation done by the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team – Carr does media relations for IHIT.
Roberts pointed out that the two media relations officers are under investigation after complaints were filed with the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP.
One complaint was filed by the BC Civil Liberties Association, she said, and the other was initiated by Paul Kennedy, chair of the RCMP complaints commission.
“I think we need them,” Braidwood decided.
The inquiry has heard that Lemaitre, while speaking on behalf of the RCMP shortly after Dziekanski’s death, told reporters the man had been Tasered twice.
In fact, Dziekanski received five shocks from a Taser, which was only made public last Dec. 12 when the Crown announced there would be no charges against the four RCMP officers involved in the death at the airport.
Carr is expected to testify Wednesday and Lemaitre is scheduled to testify Thursday.
Earlier in the day at the inquiry, lawyer Walter Kosteckyj, who is representing Dziekanski’s mother, Zofia Cisoski, called for B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal to reopen the investigation of a fatal incident involving police.
He said new evidence has emerged at the Braidwood inquiry to warrant the investigation being reopened.
“Decisions were made in terms of charges on the basis of an IHIT report, which included the statements various police officers,” Kosteckyj told reporters during a break in the inquiry.
“In fact, they have recanted on three or four important points,” he added, “so it makes some sense that this matter should be looked at again.”
Kosteckyj also urged that a independent special prosecutor be assigned to oversee the renewed investigation.
“This is a criminal investigation that needs an independent prosecutor to look at it completely,” Kosteckyj said. “It is high time we have completely independent oversight. The police shouldn't be investigating themselves.”
The Braidwood inquiry resumed Tuesday after a two-week break. The second part of the inquiry began last January.
A number of witnesses are scheduled to testify today, including RCMP Cpl. Nycki Basra.
She is expected to testify about an RCMP “debriefing” about the fatal incident that involved four Mounties who attended the airport to respond to a 911 report of a man throwing luggage around.
Seconds after the officers arrived, they confronted Dziekanski, 40, who spoke no English. The man threw up his arms and grabbed a stapler, prompting an officer to deploy a Taser five times.
Dziekanski died at the scene after the four officers struggled to handcuff his hands behind his back. Cause of death was “sudden death during restraint.”
Dziekanski had left his home in Poland more than 24 hours earlier and wandered around the secure international arrivals area for about nine hours, looking for his mother.
The mother and son never connected at the airport.
Dziekanski remained in an area of the airport inaccessible to the public. The mother waited for hours for her son but finally returned home when officials were unable to locate her son, who had come to Canada to live with his mother.
A video of the incident taken by a bystander at the airport sparked an international outcry at how the man was welcomed to Canada. All four officers changed their version of events after watching the video.
nhall@vancouversun.com
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

 

[china]

posted 2x

 

[china]

VanIsle ;
​

Just look how much China who apparantly lives in China, dictates the threads here on this forum and how everyone jumps to join him. He aids all of you into focusing on 4 members of the police rather than the Force as a whole. He leads you around by the nose helping you to form an opinion that re-enforces his own, rather than anyone looking, again, at the Force as a whole, and no one ever focuses on any of the good that is done. Why does he care if BC gets rid of the RCMP? Years ago it was city police that were all the bad guys. Then they raised the pay level and since they don't transfer people around (something that can be and usually is very disruptive to families)many of the RCMP left and were hired on by the city forces. That is all that would happen now anyway even if the man from China was successful in his quest to destroy the Force which will never happen. Cities cannot afford to start the training process for the numbers they would need for one thing and for another, something would have to give because they would then be responsible for 100% of the costs of paying for their policing and they are not right now.
Pay cuts would have to happen. City police forces usually have unions. City taxes would go up. Who would police the rural areas? Do you think the RCMP are going to send in 2 - 3 members for the little towns without regular members nearby? Gee, we could have it like the USA where some big Bubba comes to look after things wearing his big tin badge on the front of his hat or shirt. I guess you would all be more secure with that?
JLM - are you sure you only want them to get - what was it - 32 years? How about hanging them high. You are for capital punishment aren't you. You want the lives of 4 people when only one man used the taser under the orders of another man. How would all of you see that situation if it was the army? Would you say all 4 were guilty of killing a man. Would you say one man was guilty of killing a man. Would you say the man who ordered the shooting of the taser was the guilty one? Would you say the man who followed orders should be transfered and re-trained on the taser (since it seems right now that all police forces are going to continue it's use), that two of them should just be transfered (maybe a few months without pay for not telling the truth which again was probably ordered by some higher up)and the one who ordered the shooting be the one who is actually charged with the crime. His crime in this case would be abuse of authority (leading to a death)for which he should lose his job and his pension. I don't think you will ever see a repeat of any of this again.
Any police officer worth their salt will not only arrest the Mayor's son but will arrest the Mayor too if need be. That was proven in the Okanagan a couple of years or so ago.

I think you work for RCMP; psychology dept.

 

[china]

Robert Dziekanski appeared "dangerous" and posed a potential threat to the public moments before he was Tasered, one of the RCMP officers involved in the incident testified Thursday.
Const. Gerry Rundel said the 40-year-old Polish man who died in the October, 2007 incident at Vancouver International Airport (YVR) released "an incredible amount of energy" when officers shocked and pounced on him.
"It took a Taser – two deployments – and four officers for over a minute struggle to restrain and handcuff Mr Dziekanski," Rundel said under a continued grilling before the Braidwood Inquiry.
He said he did not find out until later the Taser had been used five times – unleashing 50,000 volts through the probes for a total of 31 seconds.
Had officers not contained the disturbed Dziekanski and had he managed to flee, Rundel said he could have got into a variety of public or secure areas at YVR.
"With that amount of energy he had built up inside, I venture to say I don't know where that could have ended," he said. "He could have hurt, injured other members of the public."
Don Rosenbloom, a lawyer representing the government of Poland, suggested Rundel couldn't possibly have been afraid Dziekanski would "run off" somewhere.
"Yes I was," Rundel replied.
Rundel maintained Dziekanski was both "resistant" by raising his hands and heading towards his luggage and later adopting a "combative stance" when he picked up a stapler.
Those determinations meant Taser use was permitted under the rules governing RCMP use of the electroshock weapons at the time.
The officer was also asked if more shouldn't have been done to accommodate someone who clearly couldn't speak English.
"We did everything we could," Rundel replied. "It was Mr. Dziekanski's behaviour that did not allow that to happen."
Rundel maintained the video evidence supported his memory of events and he rejected Rosenbloom's suggestions that the images told a different story and that officers had fallen far short of "prudent conduct."
Asked about his experience with Tasers, Rundel said the Dziekanski incident was his first experience with the use of Tasers in the field, apart from training sessions.
Dziekanski had wandered for hours after failing to connect with his mother from Kamloops.
Although the four RCMP officers involved won't face criminal charges in connection with Dziekanski's death, the lawyer for one officer indicated he's concerned the Polish government will take legal action and asked to restrict access to exhibits and transcripts.
RCMP Const. Bill Bentley began his testimony Thursday afternoon.
Asked if he had anything to say to Dziekanski's mother in the courtroom, he responded: "I'm sorry for her loss... my heart goes out to her and her family."
The inquiry continues.

 

[china]

By Ben Meisner
Monday, May 11, 2009 03:45 AM

There is always the line that the position taken was for the,” greater good”, now that may be applicable in many cases or at the very least some sort of an argument could be made in favour of the move, but look at the testimony of the RCMP at the Braidwood inquiry, and try and explain to me what possibly could be the "greater good" in the their actions in the death of Robert Dziekanski?
From the moment the four officers set foot in the Vancouver airport until they appeared before former Justice Braidwood, the whole affair has the word "smear" written all over it.
Superintendent Wayne Rideout, the senior officer in the investigation testified that, “we withheld the truth to protect the facts”. Instead the RCMP said, Dziekanski had become combative and the police used the tazer twice, wrong, completely wrong, but Rideout didn’t want the facts to get in the way of the investigation. "We would taint the witness account that’s why we withheld the information" Rideout says, again the interest of the greater good for whom?
Who is the police officer who went to Poland to interview neighbours, or anyone who could shed a bad light on Dziekanski to a point that one witness in Poland refused to talk to the RCMP? It was Superintendent Wayne Rideout. What was he trying to obtain in Poland that could possibly have any bearing on what four of his officers had done to Dziekanski, and why his department was lying over the facts?
Can you just image what kind of a line would have been spun had that live video not be taken, or for some unknown reason the camera was returned with the video missing? The problem with that video was that it was shown to a few people before being grabbed up by police and we all know that they didn’t want to return the video until court action was threatened.
Blaming Dzieknaski’s death on the airport staff or other support workers at the airport might get you a casual comment, the reality is that four burley cops decided to tazer a guy five times, hold him on the ground and when he was dead, try and spin a story. It didn’t work in this case, problem is, how many times has it worked in other cases, and were those instances also for the greater good?
I’m Meisner and that’s one man’s opinion.

 

[china]

Replace RCMP



Editor: It is high time that the current (or soon to be elected) government of B.C., especially the premier and Attorney-General Wally Oppal, step up to the plate and insist that the four RCMP officers who killed Mr. Dziekanski be charged with at least manslaughter, but preferably second degree murder.
Supt. Wayne Rideout should be fired, along with every senior officer who stood in front of the TV cameras and lied to the public for over a year. As far as I’m concerned, and I am sure I speak for others, the RCMP are no longer to be believed or trusted.
It is time they were replaced with a provincial force, and in the Lower Mainland with a regional force — one we can have faith in to do their job and tell the truth, rather than trying to make the victims look like the criminals.
The RCMP have given B.C. and Canada a black eye as far as our world standing is concerned and they need to be dealt with. I say good riddance to bad policing.
Al Crawford,

 

[china]

Top RCMP officer apologizes for Taser-related death at airport

Last Updated: Monday, May 11, 2009 | 9:51 PM PT http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/05/11/bc-rcmp-apology-taser.html#socialcommentshttp://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/05/11/bc-rcmp-apology-taser.html#

Robert Dziekanski died in October 2007 after he was jolted several times with a Taser. (Paul Pritchard)The RCMP's second-in-command said Monday the force is "very sorry" for the death of Robert Dziekanski, but he stopped short of admitting the Mounties made a mistake.
Dziekanski died after four RCMP officers used a Taser to subdue him at Vancouver International Airport in October 2007.
On Monday, Deputy Commissioner Bill Sweeney expressed regret for what happened, speaking at a Senate committee hearing in Ottawa.
"We are very sorry for Mr. Dziekanski's death and are committed to learning as much as possible from this terrible event," he said.
But Sweeney was very clear that until the Braidwood inquiry currently underway in Vancouver is completed, he won't comment on the specifics of what happened.
More de-escalation training needed

Sweeney did say situations involving police can escalate in a millisecond despite an officer's best intentions. He said the RCMP must spend more time training in de-escalation techniques.
"We always prided ourselves on time, talk and, if necessary, tear gas, before we'd have to do interventions that would cause harm to others," he said.
Walter Kostecky, the lawyer for Dziekanski's mother, said Sweeney's use of the word "sorry" is a good sign, but it isn't the first time he's heard it. Kostecky noted that Gary Bass, the RCMP's deputy commissioner for B.C., made similar apology a year and a half ago.
"It's got to go beyond that. I think it's got to be to the point where somebody accepts responsibility that these actions were not carried out in a way that's acceptable to the Canadian public," Kostecky said Monday after hearing the comments.
Expert defends officers' actions

While Sweeney was expressing his regrets to senators in Ottawa, an RCMP use-of-force expert testifying at the Braidwood inquiry in Vancouver gave what has become a familiar defence of the officers involved.
RCMP trainer Corp. Gregg Gillis said Monday that Mounties are trained to use Tasers, batons or pepper spray and to avoid physical fights with people to try to minimize the risk of injury to all parties.
Gillis said that the Mountie who stunned Dziekanski with a Taser acted in accordance with his training.
The Braidwood inquiry, which is looking into Dziekanski's death and might make findings of misconduct against individuals who were involved, resumes Tuesday with testimony from a psychologist, a psychiatrist and an epidemiologist.
With files from The Canadian Press

 

[L Gilbert]

Stunning him once would be ok, but 4 or 5 times? IMO, Gillis is out-to-lunch.
I think it's quite likely that the cops themselves escalated the incident. It's possible that they arrived already confrontational and combative.
Either way, though, the situation was extremely poorly managed.

 

[china]

Psychologist says Robert Dziekanski's death worst of Canadian policing
1 day ago
KAMLOOPS, B.C. — A police psychologist sent an open letter to the mother of Robert Dziekanski saying the way her son was treated at Vancouver airport demonstrates the worst of Canadian policing.
In the letter to Zofia Cisowski of Kamloops, B.C., Dr. Mike Webster repeats much of what he told a public inquiry examining Dziekanski's death. The Polish man died after he was stunned five times with an RCMP Taser and subdued by Mounties at Vancouver's airport in 2007.
Webster's letter says the RCMP is led by an archaic, out-of-touch leadership that manages conflict with intimidation, not only with the public but also with its own membership.
Last week, RCMP Deputy Commissioner Bill Sweeney apologized for Dziekanski's death. The force has also apologized for its inaccurate public statements in the days that followed the airport incident.
"This is probably as close as you will come to a genuine apology from the RCMP," Webster writes.
"Unfortunately, the long history and rich tradition of the Force manifests itself today as arrogance and defensiveness."
Webster says the RCMP executive is indirectly responsible for Dziekanski's death and he accuses the executive of being overly interested in maintaining a positive impression.
"They view themselves as somehow apart from the rest of us, an elite group whose safety is more important than that of the most unfortunate among us," he writes.
"We have become the 'enemy' and they go to 'war' with us each day, rather than collaborating with us to form a cohesive and consistent approach to policing our communities."
Webster, who has been associated with the RCMP for more than three decades, says the force's relationship with the public is symbolized by the black "slash" gloves worn by the four officers involved in Dziekanski's death. The gloves are not part of the regulation RCMP working uniform.
"Yes, they are worn for protection but they are also worn for psychological effect. They are worn, by some, to intimidate (without giving much thought to how they could be perceived by the general public).
"Unfortunately the idea of intimidating people is entirely consistent with the RCMP management's way of managing conflict not only with the public but also with its own membership."
Webster's letter also took aim at the Crown decision not to approve charges against the officers who confronted Dziekanski, and the official statement that the level of force used by the officers was reasonable and necessary.
"This statement reflects a profound misunderstanding and lack of respect for the application of force to vulnerable groups and those in crisis," he writes.
"How could this happen in Canada?"
He calls the belief that the RCMP can investigate itself "psychologically unsophisticated," saying police, like all human beings, doesn't want to see things that make it look bad.
Webster makes it clear his criticisms are directed at the RCMP executive, not what he calls the "generally well-meaning and hard-working" individual Mounties.
He stresses that he is not biased in a negative direction toward the RCMP. He writes that he has the deepest respect for the force as an institution but very little respect for those responsible for the RCMP's present position and course.
"I wish I could tell you that the issues I raised here, and many others, that are rotting the RCMP from the top down will soon be changing," he writes.
"I won't do that as the RCMP is in need of significant transformational change in order to genuinely reconnect with the public and its own membership."
An RCMP spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.
In a statement, Cisowski said "nobody so far exposed the truth about the RCMP as Dr. Webster did."
Cisowski says the Mounties "neither attempted to preserve or protect" her son's life, and adds "the RCMP will never be trusted as long as they continue to investigate themselves."
Dziekanski died at Vancouver's airport after four RCMP officers were summoned to deal with the agitated man as he threw furniture around the arrivals area.
Dziekanski had wandered the airport for hours looking for his mother and was wielding a stapler when he was shocked multiple times by an RCMP Taser.
Sweeney told a Senate committee in Ottawa that the force is committed to learning as much as possible from the terrible event.

 

[JLM]

Psychologist says Robert Dziekanski's death worst of Canadian policing
1 day ago
KAMLOOPS, B.C. — A police psychologist sent an open letter to the mother of Robert Dziekanski saying the way her son was treated at Vancouver airport demonstrates the worst of Canadian policing.
In the letter to Zofia Cisowski of Kamloops, B.C., Dr. Mike Webster repeats much of what he told a public inquiry examining Dziekanski's death. The Polish man died after he was stunned five times with an RCMP Taser and subdued by Mounties at Vancouver's airport in 2007.
Webster's letter says the RCMP is led by an archaic, out-of-touch leadership that manages conflict with intimidation, not only with the public but also with its own membership.
Last week, RCMP Deputy Commissioner Bill Sweeney apologized for Dziekanski's death. The force has also apologized for its inaccurate public statements in the days that followed the airport incident.
"This is probably as close as you will come to a genuine apology from the RCMP," Webster writes.
"Unfortunately, the long history and rich tradition of the Force manifests itself today as arrogance and defensiveness."
Webster says the RCMP executive is indirectly responsible for Dziekanski's death and he accuses the executive of being overly interested in maintaining a positive impression.
"They view themselves as somehow apart from the rest of us, an elite group whose safety is more important than that of the most unfortunate among us," he writes.
"We have become the 'enemy' and they go to 'war' with us each day, rather than collaborating with us to form a cohesive and consistent approach to policing our communities."
Webster, who has been associated with the RCMP for more than three decades, says the force's relationship with the public is symbolized by the black "slash" gloves worn by the four officers involved in Dziekanski's death. The gloves are not part of the regulation RCMP working uniform.
"Yes, they are worn for protection but they are also worn for psychological effect. They are worn, by some, to intimidate (without giving much thought to how they could be perceived by the general public).
"Unfortunately the idea of intimidating people is entirely consistent with the RCMP management's way of managing conflict not only with the public but also with its own membership."
Webster's letter also took aim at the Crown decision not to approve charges against the officers who confronted Dziekanski, and the official statement that the level of force used by the officers was reasonable and necessary.
"This statement reflects a profound misunderstanding and lack of respect for the application of force to vulnerable groups and those in crisis," he writes.
"How could this happen in Canada?"
He calls the belief that the RCMP can investigate itself "psychologically unsophisticated," saying police, like all human beings, doesn't want to see things that make it look bad.
Webster makes it clear his criticisms are directed at the RCMP executive, not what he calls the "generally well-meaning and hard-working" individual Mounties.
He stresses that he is not biased in a negative direction toward the RCMP. He writes that he has the deepest respect for the force as an institution but very little respect for those responsible for the RCMP's present position and course.
"I wish I could tell you that the issues I raised here, and many others, that are rotting the RCMP from the top down will soon be changing," he writes.
"I won't do that as the RCMP is in need of significant transformational change in order to genuinely reconnect with the public and its own membership."
An RCMP spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.
In a statement, Cisowski said "nobody so far exposed the truth about the RCMP as Dr. Webster did."
Cisowski says the Mounties "neither attempted to preserve or protect" her son's life, and adds "the RCMP will never be trusted as long as they continue to investigate themselves."
Dziekanski died at Vancouver's airport after four RCMP officers were summoned to deal with the agitated man as he threw furniture around the arrivals area.
Dziekanski had wandered the airport for hours looking for his mother and was wielding a stapler when he was shocked multiple times by an RCMP Taser.
Sweeney told a Senate committee in Ottawa that the force is committed to learning as much as possible from the terrible event.

It's good someone in authority has finally denigrated the action of the R.C.M.P. but really he's only saying what the rest of us have been saying since a week after the incident.

 

[china]

Expert says Dziekanski lunged at police
Story

• Photos ( 1 )

Screen captures from the Paul Pritchard video of the taser death of Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver International Airport.

Photograph by: Handout , The Province

An expert forensic video analyst testified on Monday that Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski made a move towards RCMP officers seconds before he was hit with the first of five Taser jolts.
Grant Fredericks said he stabilized a three-second clip that showed Dziekanski swaying left and right with his back to the camera during a confrontation with two Mounties at Vancouver International Airport.
"I observed the step to the right, to the left, to the right . . . the motion of the shoulders that were turning inward as movement occurred, which is consistent with walking," Fredericks told retired judge Thomas Braidwood at the public inquiry probing Dziekanski’s death.
Fredericks, a former TV reporter and Vancouver police constable who is now a forensic video analysis instructor at the University of Indianapolis, said his subjective observation was validated when he compared Dziekanski’s size at the beginning and at the end of the clip, measuring the pixels from his collar to the bottom-most part of his jacket visible in the video.
He said the same area of Dziekanski’s jacket dropped to 74 per cent of its original size, suggesting the Polish man was advancing on the Mounties.
His statement supports earlier testimony by the four police officers that Dziekanski was combative and a threat to their safety.
Frederick was contacted by lawyer David Butcher, who represents one of the Mounties involved in the incident.
Don Rosenbloom, the lawyer representing the Polish government at the inquiry, objected to Frederick’s testimony, saying he has no background in biomechanics. “How can you conclude that torquing of the shoulder blades is necessarily the advancement of the feet of the body?” he asked during cross examination.
He also cited reports by two experts which criticized Fredericks’ methodology as flawed.
“All we’re left with is your subjective opinion that there has been some movement forward and you can’t say how much,” said Rosenbloom.
Mark Hird-Rutter, a certified photogrammetrist and geomatics instructor at BCIT, said Fredericks was only able to compare a single point on Dziekanski’s collar. “The size was not measured,” he said.
“All we know is that Mr. Dziekanski’s collar has dropped by a few pixels.”
A second expert is expected to testifty today that the perceived change in Dziekanski’s size could be due to vertical motion, not movement away from the camera. Today is the last day of testimony in the inquiry.
Closing arguments are scheduled for late June.
© Copyright (c) The Province



Your Comments

May 26, 2009 - 11:17 AM

How about admitting you made a mistake and apologizing. It would be cheaper in the long run and the RCMP could hire the fired Members on future contracts. Better than making the entire RCMP look incompetent.

May 26, 2009 - 10:34 AM

This analysis comes right out of desperate,and hard up for any kind of an attempt to justify the RCMP oversimplification of their wrong doing.This resulted directly in the death of an innocent,tired,frustrated individual,who could not even speak english.There is no excuse or plausible reason for the four RCMP officers actions that fatal night.There has been excellent testimony and video,revealing that the incorect and contradictory testimony by the actions of the four officers.Coupled with the senior RCMP staff attempted to stall,sieze video,and any thing possible to redirect attention from their irresponsible actions that night.They even went out to Poland in an attempt to belittle and taint this mans reputation and medical condition,all at very expensive taxpayer expense,talk about far reaching!!! The testimony of the an expert that contradicted the RCMP actions that night,who has been utilised by the RCMP for over 20 years,who was then fired Attempts were then made to hire an apparently incompetent so called expert to smear previous expert testimony.The RCMP's treatment of the puiblic and this case in particular only displays their contempt for the public and this countries laws.The RCMP has a very poor record of performance of their required responsibilities,with their position that there are two standards,#1 -a set of laws that we all in this country must adhere to,and # 2 - the RCMP standard that they apparently believe that these very same laws do not apply to them. This is wrong and until they are to be held to account,as we the public are,we will continue to have the same mistrust,and lack of respect for the RCMP.Until they fire incompetent senior staff,review and reset the standards that apply to all in this country,there will no further trust given to this Keystone cop attitude displayed by the RCMP. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kris

May 26, 2009 - 9:42 AM

Dziekanski's was clearly a nut case and had a heart problem. It was a tragic incident. Let's get over it!!
joe citizen

May 26, 2009 - 9:16 AM
http://javascript<b></b>:void(0);


Why does the RCMP keep digging a deeper whole with more "purgy under oath" Their head guy should apoligize for the mistake, fire the men envloved and give the poor mother a settlement. This will not bring her son back but at least give her some closure. Four Citizens off the street could have handled this situation with a postive ending. The lies and attempted cover ups all ready exposed in RCMP statements todate is an embarrassment to the City and the Force itself. Its sad to see over the years the detoration of this once proud and respected police force turn into the focus of the public distane and ridicule caused by numerous public debacles in the last 20 years.

May 26, 2009 - 8:29 AM

To all of you that are sick of the story and want to move on to other "news" NOBODY ASKED YOU TO READ IT AND POST A MESSAGE! If you are sick of it, then stop reading it. You're posts remind me of when someone opens a bag of food that smells so bad it make them throw up then passes it on and says - here, smell this! On to the actual story - no wonder cops have such a bad rap - how much is the inquiry costing us tax payers anyway?

Where is M.A.D.D.?

May 26, 2009 - 8:18 AM

How come every R.C.M.P. witness has some financial connection to Tazer International. I hope the family sues YVR, YVR Administrators, Canadian Border Services, The R.C.M.P., the four officers, the YVR security company & Tazer International as they all played a role in the death. The four officers should be charged for involuntary manslaughter because they did not provide adequate care for their client. If the three officers do not testify that their commanding officer Robinson did not allow them to perofrm basic fisrt aid on the client they are as guilty as Robinson. Also where is M.A.D.D. to condemn Robinson, a mother's son was taken in the prime of his life by a drunk driving cop. I think M.A.D.D. is just a civilian branch of the R.C.M.P. who will protect cops and vilify everyone else.

roy sahm

May 26, 2009 - 8:16 AM

Well put Richard, some police are scum taking down the system! This expert idiot is nothing but a paid smokescreen for injustice. WELLCOME TO THE BROTHERHOOD> The testimony of a blood spatter expert from the RCMP in the IAN BUSH murder was discounted by the LEADERS of this fake system of justice. Perhaps this lowlife expert will fall in disgrace the same way.

what a crock

May 26, 2009 - 8:01 AM

Man I'm not even going to read this whole article cause I sense a B.S. lie coming anyway s., I've seen how cops use this an excuse (SHOOT HIM NED HE'S COMING RIGHT AT YA) in the past and say the person was resiting arrest which is a crock of *** if you ask me. I still think it's a case of over zealous cops thinking they're above the law and can use any means they think they should. I for one hope they're all charged with murder cause that's exactly what they did.
Adrian

May 26, 2009 - 7:52 AM

Enough already. RCMP you screwed up. No matter how much you try you will not sway us. SO APOLOGIZE ALREADY!

Taxpayer,

May 26, 2009 - 7:40 AM

Are you kidding me! This will never go away until the truth is told and punishment is handed out. The Rcmp SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF ITSELF.

sharon

May 26, 2009 - 7:02 AM


The lawyer for the Polish government (Don Rosenbloom) blew the so called "expert" out of the water yesterday by pointing out he has no qualifications to make these kind of pronouncements. He's an expert in pixels, but not in body mechanics.

May 26, 2009 - 6:53 AM

Eventually the story will change to say that Dziekanski tasered the cops who heroically fought through th epain to peacefully subdue the mass murderer. It will end by saying that Dziekanski committed suicide while in police custody. The lying cops will get medals, trauma counselling and early retirement with extra pension benefits. They will go on to become commissioners appointed by the government to ensure neutrality in future police incidents involving deaths of innocent citizens.

 

[L Gilbert]

Pixels. Jeeeeeeeeeez. I spose no-one thought that he might have leaned forward. But either way, after he was on the ground why shoot him again with tasers?
I don't care how many experts testify and to what nitpicking details they testify to. If 4 armed and trained RCMP can't subdue an upset man armed with a stapler without tasering him to death, they should bloody well resign for being out-and-out incompetent. What would they have done if there was not just RD, but 3 or 4 upset Polish people that had training such as that given to GROMs? They'd have been toast.

 

[china]

Dziekanski’s mother hires lawyers in Poland to investigate charging Mounties
By Neal Hall , Vancouver SunMay 27, 2009Story

• Photos ( 1 )
• Video ( 1 )

Zofia Cisowski, mother of Robert Dziekanski, is visibly upset during a morning break of testimonies Monday.

Photograph by: Ian Smith, Vancouver Sun
The mother of Robert Dziekanski is now working with lawyers here and in Poland to see if criminal charges can be laid there against the four officers involved in the fatal incident at Vancouver’s airport in 2007.
Zygmunt Riddle, a West Vancouver businessman who is a friend of Dziekanski’s mother, Zofia Cisowski, said Wednesday that Cisowski has hired a lawyer in Poland and a former B.C. judge, Bill Sundhu, to investigate whether the four Mounties involved in the fatal incident can be charged in Poland.
“They are in the process of gathering some information in Poland,” Riddle explained, adding under Polish law, the government of Poland is obligated to investigate and prosecute the death of a Polish citizen abroad.
He said Sundhu will make an announcement Saturday about a new development at a fundraising dinner for Cisowski in Surrey.
“So far they are not charged,” Riddle said of the four RCMP officers who were involved in confronting and Tasering Dziekanski five times on Oct. 14, 2007 at Vancouver International Airport. He died at the scene minutes later.
Sundhu, now a Kamloops lawyer, has provided Cisowski a legal opinion that the government should review its decision last December not to charge the officers with any criminal offence, especially in light of testimony that emerged in recent months at the Braidwood inquiry, which heard its final witness Tuesday.
The inquiry will resume June 19 to hear the final arguments from lawyers.
The commissioner, retired judge Thomas Braidwood, is expected to deliver his report on the first phase of the inquiry, held last year to probe the use of Taser weapons in B.C., by June 30.
The report on the second phase of the inquiry, which started last January and probed the events surrounding Dziekanski’s death, isn’t expected to be completed until the fall.
Transcripts of the testimony heard by the inquiry are available on the website: Braidwood Inquiry
The inquiry was ordered by the attorney-general after a public outcry over the incident, prompted by an amateur video shot by a bystander, Paul Pritchard, that was released and posted on YouTube, attracting international attention.
One of the Vancouver lawyers involved in the inquiry, Don Rosenbloom, who represented the government of Poland, said Wednesday that Pritchard “is really the hero in this whole thing.”
He credited Pritchard, after police seized his camera at the airport and told him they would not give him a copy of the video until the investigation was completed, for hiring a lawyer and going to court to get the video released.
“The inquiry was held because there was a public outcry, because of the video,” Rosenbloom said, adding that Pritchard currently is living in Peru.
nhall@vancouversun.com
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

 

[CanadianLove]

Can I call it cencorship if your links don't work? :angryfire:

 

[CanadianLove]

Will there be another Inquiry???

Since it was a federal Port of Entry, the RCMP were called by Federal Border Officals, and the RCMP are a Federal Police Force, I think the door is open for a Federal inquiry into the Tazer incident. Do you think it will happen?? The four officers seem to think that the Province of BC has no right to judge them.

RCMP distances itself from officers' lawsuit over Dziekanski inquiry

 

[SteveBee]

I have to agree with a police officers decision to use a taser at least to a certain extent. Realistically, how many alternate forms of effectively restraining someone are there that don't put an officer danger? In this case it sounds like it was either a computer monitor to the face or use the tool they were given specifically for such circumstances, right? It is unfortunate that the man didn't survive but at the same time who knows what other harm he may have been capable of had he not been stopped.