Edmonton Police Watch

EDMONTON JOURNAL

A veteran Edmonton police officer who used a Taser on two sleeping men has been handed a 90-hour suspension in a strongly worded indictment on abuse of the controversial weapon.

Const. Jeffrey Resler pleaded guilty to using his Taser seconds after entering a Cromdale Hotel room in 2003, but he blamed his misconduct on stress caused by a bitter divorce.

In a written internal disciplinary decision released this week, Supt. Mark Logar ruled the officer had no authority to arrest or detain the two men.

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EDMONTON JOURNAL

EDMONTON - The Kiwanis Club of Edmonton presented Staff Sgt. Jamie Ewatski with its 2008 Top Cop award at a ceremony this morning.

The award is given annually to a full-time member of the Edmonton Police Service who is nominated by a colleague or a member of the community for their volunteer work.

Ewatski, who has been with the EPS for 30 years, has worked with the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program since 1995, graduating more than 600 school children through the program.

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EDMONTON SUN

A city law professor is calling for a moratorium on stun-gun use following a series of deadly incidents.

That’s despite assurances from doctors at a mental health conference that there is no certain link.

“It is no longer enough to say, ‘Oh, we’re not sure (stun guns) are safe, but we’ll still use them,” said Sanjeev Anand of the University of Alberta.

A conference of mental-health professionals held earlier this week in Edmonton probed the danger for mentally-ill suspects subject to being zapped. Dr. Dorothy Cotton said: “… It’d be safe to say in situations involving Tasers and excited delirium, it’s just not known. We’re just not there yet.”

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EDMONTON JOURNAL

EDMONTON - Testifying in his own defence at a disciplinary hearing today, an Edmonton police officer denied ever telling a man he would “end him” after arresting him outside a bar in November 2004.

“I don’t even speak in that vocabulary,” Const. Kenneth Hawrylenko said at the proceeding.

Complainant Joseph Turvey told the hearing he distinctly recalls Hawrylenko threatening to “end him” after Turvey kicked Hawrylenko in the arm. Turvey was handcuffed in the back of a police cruiser when he kicked the officer, who was seated in the driver’s seat. After being kicked, Hawrylenko said, he got out of the driver’s seat and opened the passenger door of the car.

“He grabbed my face and pushed it into the seat and said ‘If you ever do that I will end you,’ ” Turvey said.

Hawrylenko said he did grab Turvey and speak to him, but that he only told the man not to kick him again.

Supt. Mark Logar, the presiding officer, will give his decision on the matter later this month.

EDMONTON JOURNAL

EDMONTON - An Edmonton police officer facing charges of deceit and neglect of duty resigned Friday, effective immediately, during a police disciplinary hearing.

The charges against Cst. Janelle Brown stemmed from an alleged credit-card fraud case dating to September 2005, in which she was the investigating officer. Brown originally pleaded not guilty to the charges in July, but changed her plea Friday during the hearing when an agreed statement of facts was entered into evidence as an exhibit.

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