Edmonton Police Watch

EDMONTON JOURNAL

EDMONTON - The province’s privacy commissioner has upheld the decision by city police to withhold information related to its investigation of how The Journal obtained a recording of police broadcasts on the night of the Overtime stakeout.

On the night of an alleged police sting operation at the Overtime Boiler and Taproom in 2004, officers involved in the stakeout for impaired drivers were talking extensively over the police radio.

The Journal obtained a recording of many of these conversations, which formed the basis of articles related to the operation.

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EDMONTON JOURNAL

EDMONTON - Throwing a handcuffed woman to the pavement where she landed face-first was a reasonable course of action under the circumstances, an Edmonton constable told a police disciplinary hearing today.

Const. Shane Connor testified this afternoon that he was aware that Kristin Wilson was handcuffed and there was no way for her to stop her fall, but “at the time, I wasn’t considering this,” he said.

“Depending on my movements, or her movements, she may have fallen on her shoulder or the side of her head, but instead she fell on her face … In hindsight, I wish that I would have considered that,” he said.

Connor faces two charges of professional misconduct for using inappropriate force and profanity when he arrested Wilson, 21, in the early hours of June 18, 2006, during Stanley Cup playoffs celebrations on Whyte Avenue.

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EDMONTON SUN

An Edmonton police officer says he used reasonable force when he struck a handcuffed woman who was intoxicated and unruly during a near riot following a 2006 NHL playoff game.

Const. Shane Connor, 28, faces charges of discreditable conduct for striking Kristen Wilson on the night of June 17 and for swearing at her.

Connor told a disciplinary hearing that officers feared for their safety as thousands of people spilled out of bars along the city’s trendy bar strip each night after Edmonton Oilers games.

He says Wilson, who was one of 400 people arrested that night, continually swore at officers as she was escorted to a police bus.

Connor says he hit Wilson with what police call a head stun when she broke away from his grasp. Wilson fell to the ground after she was hit, cutting her face on the pavement.

EDMONTON JOURNAL

Under arrest, hands tied behind her back, Kristin Wilson was being herded toward a bus during wild celebrations on Whyte Avenue 18 months ago when she heard someone say, “Get on the f…ing bus.”

“I turned around and said, ‘F… you,’ ” Wilson testified Tuesday at a police disciplinary hearing where the officer who arrested her faces two charges.

She said she turned toward the officer on her left and felt his grip on her arm tightening. She said she never tried to get away or spit at the officer.

The next thing she remembers, Wilson said, is the officer’s black glove coming at her face. She closed her eyes.

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THE CANADIAN PRESS

EDMONTON - An Edmonton Oilers fan arrested at street celebrations during the 2006 NHL playoffs described Tuesday how she woke up, sobbing and with blood running down her face, on a police bus after being hit and knocked to the ground by an officer.

Kristin Wilson was testifying at a police disciplinary hearing into the officer’s conduct June 17, 2006, as hundreds of people celebrated on Whyte Avenue after the Oilers won the sixth game of the Stanley Cup final.

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EDMONTON JOURNAL

Whyte Avenue was a powder keg of full bars, packed sidewalks and Stanley Cup playoff excitement the night Insp. Chris Caughell ordered Edmonton police officers to stop troublemakers before they even had a chance to make trouble.

“History had shown that if (the people gathered) were allowed to go unchecked, there would certainly be some infractions,” Caughell, now retired, said this morning at a police disciplinary hearing. “The idea is to prevent the disorder, it’s not to react to it after … . There was significant danger, danger that doesn’t exist in your general duties.”

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