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Const. Adam Chambers acknowledged at a police disciplinary hearing that he failed to complete and submit reports over a two-year period, some involving Criminal Code investigations that were essentially lost to the justice system as a result.

Presiding officer Supt. Mark Logar called Chambers’s actions “more egregious than an unnecessary use of force.”

Logar said Chambers compromised not only the police department and its members, but violated the public’s trust.

According to an agreed statement of facts, the matter was first brought to the attention of the Professional Standards Branch in May 2008.

Chambers’s supervisor noticed several internal notices requesting completion of reports and noticed several incomplete documents in the officer’s briefcase.

A subsequent search of his briefcase and locker resulted in the discovery of nearly 300 police documents, including incomplete police reports, some dating as far back as August 2006.

Further investigation revealed that some of the documentation pertained to five Criminal Code investigations in which charges were laid but documents were not submitted.

The cases were property-related in nature, or concerning traffic violations.

Presenting officer Insp. Darren Eastcott said Chambers’s actions illustrated a systemic problem within the department concerning file management, especially among younger officers.

He recommended the officer be given a reprimand and suspended without pay for between 80 and 100 hours.

Staff Sgt. Bill Newton, who represented Chambers, argued a suspension of 40 hours without pay was appropriate punishment.

Newton noted that Chambers had accepted responsibility for his actions by pleading guilty, and said the officer was “thoroughly chastened and embarrassed by the mess he created.”

While Logar noted Chambers’s plea and discomfort as mitigating factors in imposing the penalty, he also noted a previous charge of discreditable conduct stemming from an incident in 2004 in which Chambers was found passed out drunk behind the wheel of his vehicle.

Logar said the penalty needed to reflect the serious nature of the offence, adding that the fallout could be “utterly devastating” to the reputation of the EPS by the public.

“The members at large,” said Logar, “need to know this is exceedingly serious.”

Another police disciplinary hearing will convene later this month to hear details of 38 charges against Const. Raynard Vogan, among them neglect of duty, deceit and insubordination.

Vogan made his first appearance in the matter on Monday. Many of the charges, which date back to 2002, involve evidence and/or documents about investigations that Vogan allegedly did not submit, did not complete or kept in his possession.

One of the charges alleges that Vogan seized six sets of nunchuks but kept them in his possession.

The matter was put over to March 31.

via Edmonton cop rapped for paperwork breaches.

According to a Feb. 27 statement of claim, James Allan Korchinski, of Blue Sky Limousines, alleges Const. Sam Najmeddine developed an animosity toward him and used his police powers against him for an improper purpose.

Korchinski claims he was providing transportation for a private party at Lux Steakhouse on Feb. 27, 2007, and was lawfully in the premises when Najmeddine told him to leave and threatened him with arrest for trespassing.

After leaving and then coming back in after being assured he was authorized to be there, Korchinski alleges he was handcuffed in front of customers by Najmeddine, who only released him when told by management to desist.

On Sept. 14, 2007, Korchinski said he was at Rexall Place in his Hummer limousine and trying to go to a designated parking area when an employee tried to block him and he drove into her hand while clearing the intersection.

He alleges Najmeddine arrested him for assault with a weapon and then released him on an undertaking with a condition that he abstain from going to Rexall Place.

Korchinski claims he had the condition amended, but says it was not entered into the police computer system.

On Dec. 5, 2007, he went to an Oilers game, where he alleges Najmeddine grabbed him, put him in cuffs, assaulted him and then “paraded” him through the club lounge.

Korchinski alleges he was injured and suffered damage to his reputation and business, as well as mental anguish, humiliation and symptoms of post-traumatic stress.

He claims Najmeddine was working for the Oilers and Northlands as security and therefore they, as well as the police chief, are liable for Najmeddine’s alleged actions.

via edmontonsun.com – Edmonton News – Lawsuit over chainsaw mishap.

Constables Cody Zielie and Richard Abbott are each facing one count of unlawful use of authority for allegedly being too rough with a 17-year-old runaway.

In December 2003, they joined in a foot chase and Abbott tackled the youth. But one of the two independent witnesses of the arrest is dead, and the other has moved away.

The young man’s mother was watching, first from a window and then a nearby doorway. She gave a 12-minute interview to a police detective one month later, but died before she could testify.

“She would have been an immensely valuable witness,” said presiding officer Supt. Mark Logar.

The mother described one officer with his knee pinning her son’s face to the ground and another officer punching him on the head and body. But logically, that would be difficult.

“The constable would not be too terrible far from his knee,” said Logar. There’s just not that much space around one boy’s head.

There’s also the question of how much she could see from where she was standing at 1 a.m., added Staff Sgt. Bill Newton, acting as agent for the two constables. “Was it actually punching or just reaching in to try and grab his arms?”

The youth, who can’t be named because he was a ward of the Crown at the time, told the hearing he suffered fractures to his foot and jaw because the officers beat him up when they arrested him after he surrendered.

The officers said he didn’t surrender. One took him down mid-stride with a flying tackle. They testified they did not punch him or give any head stuns, but one did pin the youth’s shoulder with his knee.

Newton suggested the young man’s injuries could have been caused by the tackle and by his own flailing as he tried to get away.

A decision in the case is expected March 20.

via Disciplinary officer rues delay in hearing over teen’s arrest.

The incident dates back to late 2003.

Medical records examined at a police internal disciplinary hearing Tuesday show the young man suffered a fractured toe, scratches to his face and a fractured jaw.

A doctor who saw his injuries told him he looked like he “got beat up by a gang,” the young man told the hearing.

He can’t be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Constables Cody Zielie and Richard Abbott are each facing one count of unlawful or unnecessary use of authority for allegedly applying too much force when they tackled and handcuffed the boy.

The case was delayed, first for nine months while Crown prosecutors decided criminal charges wouldn’t stand. Then, when the police chief ruled charges under the Police Act wouldn’t stand either, the matter was appealed to the civilian Law Enforcement Review Board.

The board had the file 24 months before ordering the chief to refer the matter to a disciplinary hearing.

Now one witness, the boy’s mother, has died. Another, Const. Shannon Cross, the only uniformed witness at the scene during the arrest, moved away and couldn’t be located for Tuesday’s hearing.

The incident started shortly after 1 a.m. on Dec. 11, 2003. Two police officers, Constables Darren Rankin and Aubrey Zalaski, found the young man and a friend walking near a Boston Pizza at 118th Avenue and 101st Street. His friend took off running while he stayed, and when Rankin and Zalaski stopped to talk with him, they found out he was listed as missing from a nearby group home.

He turned and ran.

Both officers gave chase on foot but soon lost him. Other nearby officers heard the chase over their radios and joined in.

Zielie, a 12-year-police officer then with the tactical squad, was monitoring an undercover drug bust that night just a few blocks away. He saw the youth run past and gave chase.

Abbott, a seven-year-member, also joined in, caught up to the youth and jumped on his shoulders to bring him down, he testified.

That’s where accounts separate.

The youth testified he stopped and put his hands behind his head to surrender before he was tackled.

He said he did not resist arrest, and that the officers punched his head and deliberately rubbed snow in his face.

As they were walking him back to the patrol car, he said, one of the officers said something like, “ ‘I don’t like people like you,’ ” and kneed him in the eye.

Abbott and Zielie both testified the youth was kicking, flailing his arms and clawing to get away. Zielie said he put his knee on the youth’s shoulder blade, then his hand on his head and pinned him to try to control him.

He said he grabbed the youth’s right arm to help handcuff him.

“There was nothing unusual about this arrest,” Abbott said. “On a scale of one to 10 for an arrest following a footchase, this was closer to a one.”

Other police witnesses testified they saw nothing unusual after he was handcuffed and saw no evidence of any injuries.

Cross testified earlier that she helped subdue the youth by grabbing onto his legs and getting the handcuffs on. She said there were headstuns applied to the youth while he was down to try to control him. That testimony from the review board appeal was read into the record.

The young man’s mother looked out her apartment window to find the officers on top of her son that night, she told a police investigator before she died.

“One had their knee right on his head, on the right side of his face,” she said. “The other one was holding him, giving him shots (punches).”

The youth, who has fetal alcohol syndrome and was addicted to crack cocaine at the time, has since beat the addiction, he told the hearing. He’s now playing soccer and living on disability support from the province.

Closing arguments are scheduled for Wednesday.

via Two Edmonton cops testify about beating allegations.

Yesterday, the internal police hearing ended with Hudec being suspended without pay for 20 hours in connection to the Dec. 24, 2003, zapping of a 15-year-old boy.

Hudec, 34, admitted failing to document using the stun gun. He also confessed to failing to obtain medical attention for the teen. He also neglected to complete a controlled tactics report.

Two charges of insubordination were withdrawn.

“I want one thing to be noted with absolute clarity,” said presiding officer Supt. Mark Logar. “None of the five counts says anything about the inappropriate application of a Taser.”

Hudec has said he stunned a teen burglary-robbery suspect inside the North Division police station after the youngster became aggressive and began advancing on him.

Hudec was criminally charged with assault, but acquitted in 2007, after a trial judge said the cop’s actions were reasonable because the boy had previously lied about carting hidden knives.

Since the Christmas Eve Taser incident five years ago, Hudec has been through a lot, his defence lawyer told the hearing.

“In fact at one point his marriage was in difficulty,” Alex Pringle said, adding stress contributed to those private troubles.

“It has been a very arduous process. Very hard on his family. He’s already received a significant deterrent.”

Logar said he took that into consideration when he suspended Hudec for 20 hours without pay.

That will cost Hudec close to $1,000 over the course of two paycheques.

via edmontonsun.com – Edmonton News – City cop suspended over Taser incident.

“He, in essence, created the misfortune for himself,” Supt. Mark Logar said of Const. Andrew Hoglund. “Nothing in the evidence suggests Const. Hoglund asked if help was needed,” said Logar, who oversaw the hearing.

“Const. Hoglund cannot justify his actions. The constable breezes in, applies the Taser, and disappears. This type of application of the Taser does not speak highly of the service.”

University student Robert Boik was leaving the Globe Bar and Grill at Jasper Avenue and 109th Street on Sept. 4, 2004, when his friend got involved in a fight. The first officer to arrive called for backup. Boik was arrested shortly after, when one of the officers asked him for identification and he refused.

Both officers arresting him had Tasers, but decided they weren’t needed to make the arrest. They didn’t realize Hoglund had Tasered the man.

The register on Hoglund’s Taser showed he used it, but his memory was “foggy” for the incident, he testified. He pleaded guilty to insubordination for forgetting to make notes.

The charge proven Thursday was unnecessary exercise of authority for using the Taser. The member representing the police service asked Logar to revoke a promotion awarded Hoglund in April 2007, which had been on hold for nearly two years pending the hearing.

Logar ruled he did not have the jurisdiction for that and the promotion is still up in the air. Police spokeswoman Patrycia Thenu said the chief’s committee will decide what to do next.

Boik sat through the decision and said he was satisfied, since Logar accepted his account of what happened.

“Glad this process is over,” he said. “I realize that they deal with crazy and unpredictable people, but being I was bent over the trunk of a police car, it’s absolutely outrageous I was Tasered.”

estolte@thejournal.canwest.com

© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal

via Officer loses week’s pay for exceeding authority.

Const. Andrew Hoglund been given a 35-hour suspension without pay and the promotion to sergeant he earned in April 2007 is in jeopardy.

A police disciplinary hearing Thursday found that Hoglund was out of line when he fired his Taser at Robert Boik on the night of Sept. 4, 2004, when two other officers already had him under control.

“Const. Hoglund’s use of the Taser was not appropriate or necessary,” said Supt. Mark Logar, the presiding officer.

Logar noted that the other two officers did not ask for Hoglund’s help, nor did he ask them if they needed help to subdue Boik, who was involved in a brawl in the parking lot of the Globe Bar and Grill at Jasper Avenue and 109th Street.

“Const. Hoglund cannot justify his actions,” Logar said.

Hoglund had already pleaded guilty to failing to file a report on the incident.

Hoglund’s promotion was granted but put on hold for nearly two years pending the outcome of the hearing.

The Edmonton Police Service asked Logar to revoke the promotion as part of Hoglund’s punishment but Logar ruled that was out of his jurisdiction.

Staff Sgt. Bill Newton, who was acting as agent for Hoglund, said he doesn’t know what will happen to that promotion now. They will likely take it through a labour grievance process.

via Edmonton cop found guilty of unnecessary force.

Const. Kurt Puhlmann is accused of four counts of unlawful or unnecessary exercise of authority in connection with the Oct. 7, 2004 incident.

He is accused of pushing the 15-year-old complainant to the ground, slapping him with an open hand causing the skin to break and bleed, using excessive force on the youth’s neck and throat area while he was in the back of a police cruiser, and slamming the back door on youth’s right leg.

The hearing heard from the neighbour who said he was awakened around 11:30 p.m. on Oct. 7 to find a group of teenagers inside his parked van. Armed with a toy baseball bat, the man said he chased the teens off, but they later returned supposedly to retrieve a baseball cap one of them dropped.

Daniel St. Martin said one of the youths was kicking and banging on his front door while his frightened wife was inside calling 911.

Puhlmann, who lived a couple of doors down, showed up and identified himself as a police officer to the youths who left after a verbal exchange. While one of the youths was walking away, he turned and told him: “I’m going to come back and Molotov cocktail your house,” St. Martin said.

A friend of the teenaged complainant told the hearing they had been at a house party in the neighbourhood and were walking home when they spotted a light on in a van parked in the back alley and got in. They were chased off by the homeowner, but decided to go back to get a baseball cap one of them had dropped.

The friend said they were at the front door where his friend was kicking and banging on the door, demanding the hat back. When no one answered the door, they decided to leave and that’s when Puhlman, wearing pyjamas and a housecoat, showed up and identified himself as a police officer.

The friend said he saw Puhlmann slap the complainant who was being belligerant with him. The officer then poured out a bottle of liquor which fell out of the youth’s coat.

More words were exchanged as uniformed police officers showed up. The mouthy youth was placed in the backseat of one cruiser with another of the group.

The friend said he was in the back seat of another cruiser with another of their friends. Although he didn’t have a clear view, he said he saw Pulhmann talking to the complainant through the open door and then reach in. The complainant gave a jolt and looked like he was in pain. Then Puhlmann closed the door which bounced back open.

The youth, now 19, said the complaintant looked like he was in a lot of pain.

All four were taken to the west division and later released into their parents’ custody, the friend said.

“We didn’t know until January that (the complainant) had been charged…we were in quite a bit of trouble with our parents. Some of us were grounded and we couldn’t hang out with each other,” he said.

The hearing continues.

via Disciplinary hearing for Edmonton cop begins today.

Calgary provincial court Judge Bruce Fraser committed Det. Wallace James MacNeil, 50, to go to trial on charges of attempting to obstruct justice and breach of trust.

This morning’s decision came following an earlier preliminary hearing. There is a ban on publication of the evidence heard at the hearing.

MacNeil was ordered to appear in Court of Queen’s Bench on March 20 to set a trial date.

Police earlier alleged that MacNeil, a detective working out of the southeast division, interfered with an impaired-driving case involving one of his family members.

The charges stem from a 2005 investigation begun when a police employee informed detectives in the professional-standards branch after noticing an irregularity in a file.

In a rare move, police brass suspended MacNeil, who has 26 years of experience with the force, without pay following the charges which were laid in August.

Police also charged MacNeil’s relative in the original impaired-driving case, but would not reveal the relative’s name nor specify the relationship to MacNeil.

A police official did note that police do not believe the relative was involved in the alleged tampering.

MacNeil will also likely face internal police disciplinary charges following the criminal case.

via edmontonsun.com – Edmonton News – Veteran cop to go on trial over alleged case tampering.