Edmonton Police Watch

EDMONTON JOURNAL

EDMONTON – Christa Pennie was one of more than a dozen police officers searching a home when she downloaded an image reading “I (love) gay porn” onto a computer in the house.

Today, the 10-year police veteran will find out how she is to be reprimanded for a lapse in judgment while on the job.

As “bad cops” go, Pennie isn’t a big problem. “From the very beginning I’ve had remorse over it,” she told her disciplinary hearing last week. She also reported herself.

But Edmonton police want to be sure that little problems don’t become big ones by getting to the root of what makes a cop go bad. “We’re trying to head off behaviour in officers,” said Insp. Brad Doucette, who leads the internal affairs section.

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EDMONTON JOURNAL

Original

EDMONTON – An Edmonton Court of Queen’s Bench judge has ruled that an Edmonton Police SWAT team trespassed when it forcibly entered Abdulahi Mahamed’s home — guns drawn and loaded– without a search warrant.

The judge also ruled police assaulted Mahamed when they wrongfully arrested and handcuffed him in front of his wife, children and neighbours as they prepared for his five-year-old’s birthday party.

Justice Adam Germain ordered police to pay Mahamed and his wife $11,650 in damages, rather than the $40,000 to $50,000 they were seeking. But Germain told Mahamed, an immigrant who had fled a military dictatorship, that he should be pleased with the Canadian justice system.

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EDMONTON JOURNAL

Original

EDMONTON – Three police officers have been charged with assault in connection with an incident at a north-side house, but all three remain on active duty, the Edmonton Police Service has confirmed.

Staff Sgt. Jamie Ewatski, 48, Det. Terry Briscoe, 50, and Staff Sgt. Giovanni (John) Fiorilli, 48, were charged after an investigation by the police internal affairs unit.

Ewatski also faces charges of assault with a weapon. All three are scheduled to appear in court June 7.

The charges stem from an incident on Dec. 2, 2004, at a north Edmonton home. “There were no serious injuries,” police spokesman Dean Parthenis said in a statement.

In statements from a civil suit related to the same incident, Herve Dubois alleges the three officers assaulted him using the head stun technique and pepper spray and that he suffered a broken rib.

The officers allege Dubois was drunk, belligerent and attempted to stop them from arresting another man at the residence.

None of the allegations in the statements of claim or defence have been proven in court.

EDMONTON JOURNAL

Original

EDMONTON – An Edmonton police officer acknowledged Thursday to downloading an image reading “I (love) gay porn” onto a computer in a house she was searching.

Christa Pennie, a 10-year veteran who was an acting detective at the time, also admitted at a police disciplinary hearing to threading dental floss through the teeth of two ornamental figures, one of which was later put in the freezer and the second of which was placed on a stove with a black rubber knife in its mouth, while executing a search warrant February 2006.

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CBC NEWS

Original

Three high-ranking police officers have been charged with assault stemming from an incident at a north Edmonton home in 2004.

Det. Terry Briscoe and Staff Sgt. John Fiorilli are charged with assault, while Staff Sgt. Jamie Ewatski faces an additional charge of assault with a weapon.

Police said all three remain on active duty. They will appear in court next month.

According to the Edmonton Journal, Herve Dubois filed a statement of claim in the Court of Queen’s Bench alleging that five officers, including the three charged, unlawfully entered his home on Dec. 2, 2004, assaulted him and took him into custody.

Dubois was charged with assaulting a police officer, but the charges were stayed.

A statement of defence says that “there is no merit to the allegations contained in the statement of claim.” Dubois was drunk and punched Ewatski, so the other two officers charged intervened, says the statement of defence.

EDMONTON JOURNAL

Original

EDMONTON – Three Edmonton police officers have been charged with assault in connection with a struggle that took place during an arrest more than two years ago.

Alberta Justice confirmed Wednesday that Staff Sgt. Jamie Ewatski, 48, Det. Terry Briscoe, 50, and Staff Sgt. Giovanni (John) Fiorilli, 48, all face a single charge of assault in connection with the incident in December 2004.

Ewatski is also charged with assault with a weapon.

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EDMONTON JOURNAL

Original

EDMONTON – Edmonton Police Service members who ran name checks or computer searches on a city newspaper columnist cannot expect their identities to remain secret, Alberta’s Information and Privacy Commissioner office has ruled.

In a decision released late last week, commission adjudicator Dave Bell said Edmonton police must reveal the names of officers or other staff who searched Edmonton Sun columnist Kerry Diotte’s name more than 40 times since 1985.

The ruling came in response to a freedom-of-information request that Diotte made in June 2005 asking for any records of name checks or other computer queries done on CPIC (Canadian Police Information Centre) or any other police computers. He specifically asked for the name of any police service employee who conducted the searches.
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EDMONTONPOLICEWATCH ARTICLE NOTE:

This article may appear irrelevant.  It is being posted because the name of an officer (Todd Hudec) in this article was criminally charged for assault.

EDMONTON SUN

Original

Two German Shepherd puppies are set to start training for their future careers as police service dogs with the Edmonton Police Service.

Shadow and Hutch made their public debuts yesterday at a press conference at Stollery Children’s Hospital.

EPS Sgt. Randy Goss said yesterday’s event was the first test of the 10-week-old puppies’ social skills.

“They did really well, I was really impressed with how they interacted with the kids,” said Goss.
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EDMONTON SUN

Original

The criminal conviction of a city cop for using his Taser on a jaywalker will lead to fewer cops using the weapon, putting themselves and bystanders at greater risk, warns a decorated veteran city cop.

Temporary acting Sgt. Ray Akbar of the Edmonton Police Service said the verdict against Const. Aubrey Zalaski last week has sent a chill through the force, causing some stun gun-carrying officers to rethink using the weapon.

“It adds an extra burden on the decision-making process,” said Akbar.

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EDMONTON SUN

Original

The Edmonton Police Service has been ordered to give up the names of staff who ran Sun columnist Kerry Diotte’s name through a cop database more than 40 times since 1985.

The ruling from the provincial Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner is the latest development in Diotte’s ongoing legal battle against the EPS.

Diotte is suing the cops. He alleges he was unfairly targeted in what police insist was a routine drunk driving operation at the downtown Overtime Broiler and Taproom in November 2004.

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