News
Former Winnipeg Chief accepts position with Trinidad Police

Jun 30 2010

WINNIPEG – Winnipeg’s former police chief Jack Ewatski is heading to warmer weather, and bigger challenges as newly appointed deputy commissioner of the Trinidad and Tobago police force.

Ewatski has been selected as one of three new deputy commissioners by the country’s police force and Parliament.

“I applied for the position around mid-March,” said Ewatski. “I had heard about the position and I was intrigued about the opportunity.”

Some of the new challenges that Ewatski will face is a rising crime rate, increased gang activity, and some local opposition to foreign nationals in positions of police power.

In crime statistics gathered from the Trinidad police force website, there were 529 murders recorded in 2008, 511 in 2009, and 219 as of May 2010.

Ewatski acknowledged Trinidad’s rising crime rate, and said his continued passion for policing compelled him to apply for the job.

“Even after 35 years of policing, my passion has not gone away,” said Ewatski. “There is gang activity, drug activity, and homicides and there has been some lessening of public support of the police.”

Ewatski said there needed to be better bridges between police and the community.

However, strengthening connections between police and the people might take a little time based on the public reaction to the new appointees.
(Winnipeg Free Press)

h2. Prosecutor says new evidence enough to reopen Dziekanski case

Jun 29 2010

VANCOUVER – A public inquiry into Robert Dziekanski’s death revealed new evidence and the investigation into the actions of the four RCMP officers involved should be reopened, says a special prosecutor appointed following a damning report from the inquiry.

The province named Richard Peck as special prosecutor after the report released earlier this month concluded the four officers used too much force when they stunned Dziekanski
with a Taser at Vancouver’s airport, and then misled investigators looking into his death.

The province’s Criminal Justice Branch decided in December 2008 not to charge the officers, saying their use of force was reasonable in the circumstances.

But Peck said the inquiry unearthed new evidence and he recommended the decision not to lay charges should be revisited, the province’s Criminal Justice Branch announced Tuesday.

In particular, a statement from the branch mentions evidence “including but not limited to expert video analysis and expert opinions relating to the reasonableness of the escalation and de-escalation of force.”

Peck will now examine the report from commissioner Thomas Braidwood as he determines whether to recommend charges.

He’ll also look at the officers’ statements to investigators after Dziekanski’s death and their testimony at the inquiry to determine whether they may have broken the law.

Robin Baird, a spokesman for the Criminal Justice Branch, said Peck will review all the evidence available to him, including the initial report from homicide investigators,
the video of Dziekanski’s death and transcripts from the inquiry, even though the officers’ testimony cannot be used against them at a trial.

“He’ll reassess that initial decision from the ground up, including all the evidence, old and new,” Baird said in an interview. “He’s got a lot of stuff to go through.”

Three of the officers have been transferred out of province and are on administrative duties, while the one who remains in the province was suspended with pay pending his trial on an obstruction of justice charge in relation to a fatal car accident.

h1. Executive Summary

h2. Jun 24 2010

OTTAWA – The RCMP-led Integrated Security Unit used social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook during the 2010 Winter Olympics, but it was a one-way flow of press releases and links to their own websites.
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h2. Jun 26 2010

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. – About 200 RCMP officers dressed in red serge marched in a procession through the streets of Lethbridge, Alta., on Saturday to accompany the coffin of Cst. Chelsey Robinson, 25, killed in a traffic collision earlier this week.
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h2. Jun 29 2010

TORONTO – Arrows with flammable tips, bear spray, and tire irons were among the weapons seized from G20 protesters intent on wreaking havoc in Toronto, the city’s top cop said Tuesday. Chief Blair defended his force amid a storm of controversy over police tactics and the hundreds of arrests made during the summit, and displayed the cache of seized items – including a chain-mail vest – to support his case.
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h2. Jun 29, 2010

SARNIA – After three years, Sarnia council soundly shut the door on the controversial OPP costing exercise, voting 8-1 Monday to kill it. The motion, which came at the end of an over two-hour special session, means Sarnia won’t disband its municipal police service.
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