Edmonton Police Watch

EDMONTON JOURNAL

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EDMONTON - An Edmonton police constable’s angry tirade at a driver outside an Edmonton Oilers hockey game has cost him 15 hours of pay worth about $500.

Const. Donald Brownwell admitted to a count of discreditable conduct in the Jan. 7 incident at a police disciplinary hearing today.

An agreed statement of facts presented at the hearing said Brownwell was directing traffic at 119th Avenue and Gretzky Drive when a driver named Chris Sarnecki either misunderstood or disobeyed the constable’s directions. Brownwell then yelled at Sarnecki and banged on his vehicle.

When an unknown passenger made a comment to the police officer, “Brownwell removed his reflective vest and dropped it to the ground and indicated that this person should try directing traffic if he wanted to.”

Supt. Mark Logar, presiding over the hearing, suspended Brownwell for 15 hours and ordered him to read Character and Cops, a book about ethics in policing.

While he noted Brownwell had received several “kudos” for his policework, Logar also said he would not have imposed the suspension if the constable did not have a previous record including three complaints against him and one official reprimand dating from 2005.

EDMONTON JOURNAL

Original 

EDMONTON - When Edmonton police officers arrest a suspect for questioning, they should make sure they restrain the person so those considering making a run for it don’t get the chance, a fatality inquiry report says.

The report also recommended the Edmonton Police Service establish a way of calling off a dog if his handler loses sight of it during a chase, or once the canine has caught his quarry, to prevent an “inappropriate attack by a canine in an inappropriate circumstance.”

In his report, Judge James Wheatley noted that at the time of the fatality inquiry into the 2005 drowning death of Charles Wula, 38, EPS had no formalized protocol for the use of police dogs, although various drafts were waiting for approval.

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