Edmonton Police Watch

CBC NEWS

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The judge who conducted an inquiry into the drowning of a refugee fleeing from Edmonton police is recommending police do more to help suspects who might not speak English.

Officers chased Charles Wula, 38, from his wife’s apartment to the North Saskatchewan River on July 27, 2005. His body was found a week later.

A three-day fatality inquiry into his death, held in an Edmonton provincial court, wrapped up in February. In a report, dated earlier this month, Judge James Wheatley made five recommendations.

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EDMONTON SUN

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Two Edmonton police officers accused of taking bribes in an alleged photo radar scandal began a preliminary hearing yesterday in provincial court.

Staff Sgt. Kerry Nisbet, 51, and Det. Thomas Bell, 49, each face charges of breach of trust and accepting bribes.

The preliminary hearing, used to determine if there is sufficient evidence to go to trial, is scheduled for four weeks; however it is expected to wrap up within two weeks.

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630 CHED

Original

EDMONTON - A former city policeman is on trial on charges of extortion and attempted-obstruction.

In his twenty-five years as a policeman, some of them in the drug squad, Ross Barros put a lot of people behind bars.

Now, Barros is wondering if he too will have the same fate.

If he’s found guilty of extortion and attempted-obstruction, the man could go away for a long time.

After Barros quit the city police in 2001, he became a private detective.

Police alleged that Barros contacted Edmonton police and tried to get charges dropped, in exchange for not giving out the name of an informant.

Barros is being defended by a prominent Calgary lawyer, Hersch Wolch.

OTTAWA CITIZEN

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Welcome to Canada, a place where we apparently have two kinds of justice. One for “real” Canadians. And one for uppity refugees and immigrants who should thank their lucky stars we let them access our court system.

At least that’s the conclusion you might draw reading the recent judgment of Justice Adam Germain of the Court of Queen’s Bench.

This month, Germain awarded $11,650 in damages to an Edmonton couple after a police tactical team, acting on dubious information, pushed their way into the house, machine-guns and rifles at the ready, during their son’s fifth birthday party.

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EDMONTON SUN

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A police inspector has cast into doubt the Law Enforcement Review Board testimony of a fellow cop in hot water over a press release issued after the Overtime stakeout.

The stakeout on Nov. 18, 2004 saw city cops accused of improperly targeting Sun writer Kerry Diotte and then-police commission chairman Martin Ignasiak in a drunk-driving sweep at the Overtime bar downtown.

At 12:43 a.m. on Nov. 21, 2004, Insp. Bryan Boulanger issued a press release so police could get out in front of the brewing news coverage of the stakeout.

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EDMONTON SUN

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The government is looking for a top criminal lawyer to head its integrated investigations body, and Edmonton cops hope retired ex-members could help fill its ranks.

Set up to ward off concern over police investigating themselves, the civilian body will have broad powers under new provincial legislation that allows it, with the Solicitor General’s permission, to take over any investigation at any time; the new legislation also gives the head of the body police chief status and any special constables hired by the body policing authority. It’s expected to be in place by this fall.

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EDMONTON JOURNAL

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EDMONTON - When Edmonton Police Supt. Mark Logar was assigned the task of investigating how a controversial news release came to be issued in relation to the Overtime stakeout, he set his own parameters for the investigation.

Logar, who is also a lawyer, told a Law Enforcement Review Board hearing Thursday he wasn’t interested in whether the release was accurate. Instead, he only sought to determine that the officer who had issued the release, Insp. Bryan Boulanger, had taken reasonable steps to verify the information.

“I found he had taken all the reasonable steps,” Logar testified.

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EDMONTON SUN

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A city lawyer told the chairman of the Edmonton Police Commission to “do your duty” and look into a complaint about city cops wearing “No Rats” T-shirts at a union meeting.

Tom Engel made the stern request in a letter to police commission chairman Brian Gibson this week.

Engel, representing the Criminal Trial Lawyers’ Association, claims deputy chief Darryl da Costa, acting police chief from Feb. 8, 2005, to Dec. 31, 2005, was deceitful when he said the complaint about the T-shirts being worn at an Edmonton Police Association meeting at a city hotel had been investigated.

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EDMONTON SUN

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Just hours before the infamous Overtime stakeout, Edmonton traffic cops were told to watch for Sun columnist Kerry Diotte, the Law Enforcement Review Board was told yesterday.

The board is hearing an appeal of Insp. Bryan Boulanger’s acquittal on charges of discreditable conduct for a press release he issued following the Nov. 18, 2004 incident, which saw cops stake out the Overtime in the hope of catching Diotte, who had written columns criticizing photo radar, and then-police commission chairman Martin Ignasiak, driving drunk.

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EDMONTON SUN

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An Edmonton man is suing city police for $110,000 after alleging he was beaten and zapped with a Taser stun gun while he was in a cell at a community police station.

In a statement of claim filed in Court of Queen’s Bench on May 2, Gerald Van Yken says he was arrested by police on two counts of mischief following a disturbance complaint in northeast Edmonton on May 3, 2005.

Van Yken, who suffers from a liver disorder, was then taken to the Eastwood Community Police Station, 11845 81 St., and placed in a cell, says the statement of claim.

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