| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 |
|
| Pride, Honour, Respect*? Six Vancouver police officers face sentencing |
|
| The RCMP: APEC lessons ignored |
|
 |
| December 2003 |
|
| November 2003 |
|
| October 2003 |
|
| September 2003 |
|
| July 2003 |
|
| June 2003 |
|
The six Vancouver Police Department members convicted of eighteen counts of assault face a sentencing hearing in British Columbia Provincial Court on December 16 and 17, 2003. The prosecutor's submissions may shed more light on the terms of any plea agreement negotiated with the police officers' lawyers.
On November 24, 2003, the six men pleaded guilty to eighteen charges of assault arising from an incident that occurred on January 14, 2003. According to an agreed statement of facts negotiated between the officers' lawyers and the prosecutor, the six VPD members apprehended three civilians in downtown Vancouver at 4:30 a.m. and put them in a paddy wagon. The paddy wagon and three squad cars then drove to Stanley Park, a large wooded area adjacent to the city. There, the civilians were taken out of the paddy wagon one by one and assaulted. The civilians were not charged with any offences. The incident only came to light when a seventh officer, a new recruit, reported it to superiors.
These cowardly criminal acts were an appalling abuse of police power and breach of the public trust. One can only imagine how terrifying the experience must have been to the three victims who were assaulted in the darkness by six burly uniformed policemen.
more>>
The Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP has issued a "scathing" report condemning the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for tactics used in Quebec City in dealing with anti-globalization demonstrators. It is apparent that the RCMP does not appreciate its legal obligations in dealing with crowds and continues to abuse citizens who take to the streets to exercise their democratic right to dissent. Many of the force's mistakes at APEC '97 in Vancouver were repeated in Quebec City in 2001.
The disturbing thing about this is that the RCMP is our national police force, sworn to uphold the law. Instead, it is repeatedly violating the law and trampling on the fundamental constitutional rights of Canadians. Even more distressing, if that is possible, is the Commission's conclusion that the RCMP's internal investigation amounted to a whitewash.
Canadians deserve better.