Vancouver's Finest

karrie

OogedyBoogedy
Jan 6, 2007
27,780
285
83
bliss
Still doesn't warrant a punch.

So the cop is supposed to wait until he's pulled loose, turned around and squared up to him, and he's now at risk?

If you're ever being arrested, don't pull away. Don't argue. Don't try to flip around and get in the cop's face. It's aggressive, and the first thing someone does before they attack said cop.
 

Cliffy

Standing Member
Nov 19, 2008
44,850
193
63
Nakusp, BC
If it was an isolated incident, I could see defending the cops, but resorting to violence is becoming common place. I think there is a bigger issue behind all this that we are not willing to even consider.
 

layzingin

New Member
Jan 14, 2013
38
0
6
Pigs will be pigs.

WATCH! Vancouver Canada Police Officer Punch Man in Face - YouTube

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Vancouver’s police union says officers can’t take a chance when someone resists arrests. This is in response to a YouTube video of a man being punched in the face during an arrest in Downtown Vancouver on Tuesday night.

The officer who threw the punch has been pulled from duty.

Tom Stamatakis with the Vancouver Police Union says there’s more to the story than what the video shows.

In the footage, an officer is seen punching cyclist Andi Shae Akhavana as he tries to put handcuffs on him. According to Akhavan, the officers were originally going to write him a ticket for running a red light. The incident happened at Beatty and Robson.
Akhavan is filing a complaint against the VPD, claiming excessive force was used.

“With both my arms behind me and from behind, he basically clocks me in the mouth, at which point I basically felt my tooth go through my lip, and I could feel the blood right away. I was like ‘I need stitches.’ They sat me down and the video basically shows the rest of what happened,” describes Akhavan.

Stamatakis says officers are trained in what to do when someone resists arrest. “You can hear the officers giving the individual direction not to resist — to comply. They’re in the process of handcuffing him. You can see in the video, he pulls away.”

“What I saw was two police officers responding to something that they saw… trying to gain control of a person who was resisting their efforts,” he tells us.

“These officers would have no idea who this individual is, what his background is. They need to get him under control. That’s their training. It doesn’t always look great on video, but that’s the training,” explains Stamatakis.

“Unfortunately, in this city and across the province and the country, there have been many officers who have been seriously injured by people who are actively resisting arrest or trying to get away,” he adds, noting officers must take control of potentially dangerous situations.

Akhavan says he is a non-violent man who didn’t deserve to be punched; he is trying to find a lawyer in order to make a formal complaint.

The VPD says the incident was reported by the officer to his supervisor. It has been reported to the Professional Standards Section of the Vancouver Police Department, who will notify the Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner.

The officer is on a weekly leave.
Some one should take Akhavan aside and explain, when he keeps hiding bad apples or make excuses for badly trained police,
it's bad for the whole barrel.
There are on the whole a very good police force that we count on to protect the general public.
 

karrie

OogedyBoogedy
Jan 6, 2007
27,780
285
83
bliss
If it was an isolated incident, I could see defending the cops, but resorting to violence is becoming common place. I think there is a bigger issue behind all this that we are not willing to even consider.


Hmmm. I also see a really HUGE increase in the flip side of the coin.... the lippy 'you have no right' folks who choose to argue and fight and be outraged, rather than comply, head to the cop shop, sort it out on paper, and go home. The folks who think cops should be able to magically see the difference between them, and someone who will attack them.
 

Goober

Hall of Fame Member
Jan 23, 2009
24,691
116
63
Moving
Pffffb

Besides according to the video he was searched without being arrested under the narcotics act first.


How did you arrive at that as the video only covers part of the encounter with police?

What drugs?
 

petros

The Central Scrutinizer
Nov 21, 2008
117,415
14,310
113
Low Earth Orbit
That's the way it works. Narcotics Act.
.
Listen to the video and him complaining about being searched already.

The cop didn't end up pushing a broom for doing his job properly.
 

Walter

Hall of Fame Member
Jan 28, 2007
34,888
126
63
Attended a police funeral last week. She was killed on duty. I'll also be attending the annual Police memorial at Queer's Park in Toronto the first Sunday in May.
 

petros

The Central Scrutinizer
Nov 21, 2008
117,415
14,310
113
Low Earth Orbit
I disagree. Once arrested the Police have the right to search your person. Yep even invasive if required.

Search and Seizure

Police have both statutory and common law powers to conduct searches. With respect to drug-related offences, the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act establishes a comprehensive search and seizure scheme. Although these provisions are similar to the search and seizure provisions of the Criminal Code, police have some additional powers under the illicit drug legislation. For example, the legislation authorizes police who are in the process of executing a search warrant to search a person found at the locale for illicit drugs if certain conditions are satisfied. Generally, police are only allowed to search a person when it is incidental to lawful arrest. As in the Criminal Code, the legislation authorizes warrantless searches in exigent circumstances.

Section 8 of the Charter provides that everyone has the right to be secure against unreasonable search and seizure. Court decisions have dealt with the question of whether searches are reasonable in various situations and the ancillary question of whether evidence obtained during the searches can be adduced at trial. A search will generally be reasonable if it is authorized by law, the law itself is reasonable, and the search is carried out in a reasonable manner.

Section 8 protects the public’s reasonable expectation of privacy from state intrusions. Thus, where there is no reasonable expectation of privacy, section 8 does not apply. In addition, a diminished expectation of privacy (for example, in prisons or at border crossings) will lower the standard of reasonableness (for example, excusing the absence of a warrant or reducing the standard required for justifying the search). A person’s home is where there would be the greatest expectation of privacy and thus a greater degree of constitutional protection.

There is a presumption that a warrantless search is unreasonable. The general rule for a valid search is that the police will require prior authorization to conduct the search (for example, by obtaining a search warrant) and reasonable and probable grounds that justify it. This is to provide a safeguard against unjustified state intrusion. It is recognized, however, that prior authorization is not always feasible, although this should generally be limited to situations in which exigent circumstances render obtaining a warrant impractical.

Searches conducted at the border by customs officers are an example of reduced constitutional protections where the courts find that there is a diminished expectation of privacy based on the context. For example, in the case of border searches, it is not necessary to obtain prior authorization.

Generally, federal criminal law does not provide authorization for a search of the person. The common law does, however, allow a search of the person incidental to a lawful arrest. This common law power is an exception to the general rule that a search requires prior authorization to be reasonable. A person may only be searched for the purpose of locating further evidence relating to the charge upon which he or she has been arrested or to locate a weapon or some article which may assist him or her to escape or commit violence. Although the power to search incidental to an arrest is fairly broad, there is no automatic unrestricted right to search incidental to an arrest.

Courts have shown a willingness to scrutinize the manner in which a search of the person is conducted. The intrusiveness of a search can vary and courts have stated that the more intrusive the search, the greater must be the justification and greater the constitutional protection. Thus, although a frisk search will generally be acceptable, more intrusive searches such as strip searches would seem to require greater justification.

Because of the consensual nature of drug offences, police often resort to special investigative techniques to detect these crimes, including the use of electronic surveillance. The Supreme Court of Canada has stated that electronic surveillance constitutes a search for the purposes of section 8 of the Charter, and its decisions in this area have had a significant impact on the Criminal Code provisions dealing with such techniques. Because electronic surveillance is more invasive of privacy than regular search warrants, more procedural safeguards are provided in the legislation.

Police Powers And Drug-Related Offences

A "War On Drugs" loophole.