Edmonton Police Watch

Five years after zapping a teen burglary suspect with a Taser, Edmonton police Const. Todd Hudec is set to get on with his life, now that his disciplinary hearing has concluded.

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Two charges of insubordination were withdrawn.

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An Edmonton police constable was suspended without pay for 35 hours for unnecessarily Tasering a man struggling with two other officers.

“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.

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EDMONTON – An Edmonton constable who Tasered a man during an arrest outside a downtown bar has been found guilty on a disciplinary charge of unnecessary use of force.

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.

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EDMONTON – An Edmonton police officer accused of misusing his Taser on a 15-year-old boy in 2003 pleaded not guilty at his disciplinary hearing Thursday.

Const. Todd Hudec is charged with two counts of discreditable conduct and three counts of insubordination under the provincial Police Act. His two-day hearing is scheduled for March 5 and 6.

In 2006, the boy had his break-and-enter charges stayed after a judge found a “shocking abuse of police powers.” But when criminal assault charges were brought against Hudec in 2007, he was acquitted.

The teen testified Hudec showed him the Taser while he was in the back of the police car and threatened to use it when they got to the station. He says Hudec showed it to him again, then used it on his leg while he was being strip-searched.

He testified Hudec said, “This is for lying to the police.”

Hudec testified he used the Taser after the teen became aggressive while officers were trying to search him. The boy told police he was unarmed, but a pat-down uncovered an eight-inch dagger and two smaller knives. During Hudec’s assault trial, Provincial Court Judge Ray Bradley said it was the boy’s lies that tipped the balance and made Hudec’s use of force “not unreasonable.”

The insubordination charges stem from Hudec’s alleged failure to get medical attention for the boy and to properly document the incident.

via Edmonton cop pleads not guilty to misusing Taser on teen.

CALGARY HERALD

A man Tasered during a 2004 arrest in the midst of a parking-lot brawl in Edmonton did nothing to warrant such force, a police disciplinary hearing was told this week.

Insp. Neil Dubord, the presenting officer in the case, told the hearing Wednesday that officers “had physical control of Mr.Boik and he was no threat of a flight risk.”

Boik claims he was Tasered by Const. Andrew Hoglund after he was handcuffed, an assertion that has been contradicted by other officers’ testimony.

Hoglund is accused of unnecessary use of force. He also faces a charge of failing to file a report on the incident, to which he has pleaded guilty.

In previous testimony, Hoglund said his memory of the incident four years ago was “foggy.”

He told his hearing he doesn’t specifically recall Tasering Boik, but admits it must have been him.

Staff Sgt. Bill Newton, who advocated for Hoglund, criticized the length of the investigation, saying it led to poor memories and contradicting testimony.

“This was a confusing and con-founding incident that happened four years ago,” Newton said. “This is another example of the profound effect that protracted investigations have.”

A decision on the matter is expected Feb. 19.

In Hoglund’s case, around 25 officers converged on a bar because a fight had broken out in the parking lot.

EDMONTON SUN

Police Chief Mike Boyd vowed to address concerns of Taser use among officers amid reports that some officers are considering abandoning the device for fear of controversy.

“It’s an issue that came to light recently and was reported in the media that some officers were very disappointed around the lack of support for a use-of-force option in them carrying the Taser,” said Boyd at last night’s police commission meeting at City Hall.

“I want to provide our support to officers in backing the lawful use of the Taser. We want to be able to convey that to them.”

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EDMONTON – Some Edmonton police officers have chosen not to carry Tasers because of the controversy the weapons attract, despite believing the devices are valuable tools.

While testifying as a witness in a disciplinary hearing for two other officers, Const. Mike Wasylyshen said he has stopped carrying a Taser because of past criticisms.

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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 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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CBC NEWS

Alberta’s solicitor general defended the use of stun guns by the province’s police forces, Thursday.

“I believe the Taser is a tool that’s been used very effectively and in a lot of cases has prevented death,” Fred Lindsay said.

“These deaths that have occurred, whether it’s because of excited delirium or the use of the Taser, I haven’t seen a lot of evidence yet come forward that confirms at the end of the investigation that it was caused by the voltage that was put into the person’s body by the Taser.”

Lindsay said until there is conclusive evidence that stun guns are dangerous, police will be able to use them.

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