[ql06] CRIMINAL: Police misconduct
- From: "Kenneth Campbell [QL06]" <2kc16@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <ql06@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2003 06:29:50 -0500
Well, well. A "Zapruder" moment in police misconduct. Caught by a
passing tourist with a video cam...
I haven't seen the actual video yet, nor read the police incident
reports in their entirety. But if the officer of the court in question
"forgot" to put in that punch, that officer should be fired. Period. You
get all that power... you also get a higher standard of behavior
(correctness, if you will). If you are "burned out" you shouldn't be on
the force to begin with.
It will be far harder to prove anything against the other reporting
officers of the court. But if it could be shown there was a general
conspiracy to misrepresent the incident -- a deliberate attempt to
lie -- the complicit police officers should also be canned.
This kind of behavior is odious and only hurts the respect of the
courts. It feeds the belief that this happens all the time, when the
camera isn't rolling...
Funniest quote from the story. Fantino: "I appreciate the fact that we
have been given the opportunity to delve into it." Yeah, right. I
imagine he's appreciative there was a camera.
Ken.
--
Every time that I sell myself to you
I feel a little bit cheaper than I need to.
-- Hole
------------------------------------------------------------
Officer's punch caught on tape
Man charged with shoving constable
Attack on him ignored in reports
BETSY POWELL
CRIME REPORTER
TORONTO STAR
Dec. 12, 2003
A videotape is at the centre of allegations that a 21-year-old man
charged with assaulting a Toronto police officer was himself the victim
of an unprovoked punch by an officer during an early morning fracas
outside a doughnut shop.
The videotape is now in the hands of city police internal affairs
investigators.
The recording made by Ottawa tourists last Aug. 4 of the incident
outside a Tim Hortons outlet on Albion Rd. near Highway 27 has just been
released by the criminal lawyer representing Said Jama Jama.
The Somali-born warehouse worker was charged with assaulting a police
officer and causing a disturbance. His trial date is set for June 7.
But his lawyer, Andrew Vaughan, says the crown should instead withdraw
the charges.
Jama Jama says he did nothing to incite the officer and claims he was
subsequently chased and beaten by police.
Four officers say in their notes Jama Jama pushed the officer, but none
mention that Jama Jama was punched by a police officer.
Police also say Jama Jama told them his injuries were the result of an
earlier fight at the party. Jama Jama denies this and in an earlier
portion of the tape, before police arrived, he appears to be uninjured.
The amateur videotape includes audio and footage shot from inside a car
in the parking lot outside the doughnut shop.
It captures a few minutes of two groups of men arguing and, as things
heat up, some pushing and shoving. Throughout the videotaped
altercation, Jama Jama, wearing an oversized white T-shirt, jeans and a
hat, can be seen acting as a peacemaker.
When a police cruiser pulls up and into the range of the video camera,
Jama Jama appears to be crouching over one of the combatants before most
of them scatter and run away. Jama Jama, however, remains and stands
with his hands down at his side. The camera follows two officers leaving
their vehicle and then one of them as he moves toward Jama Jama.
The camera momentarily veers away — the person behind the camera appears
to duck down — and there are a few seconds where Jama Jama and the
officer can't be seen. But a moment later, the tape clearly shows the
officer grabbing Jama Jama, throwing him against a car and punching him
in the face with his gloved left fist. "This is abhorrent police
misconduct," Vaughan said yesterday.
Chief Julian Fantino has seen the videotape. "We're going to get to the
bottom of it," he said yesterday outside a police services board
meeting. "I appreciate the fact that we have been given the opportunity
to delve into it. And we're doing that and there will be answers, and
when those are available we'll make those known. And in the meantime we
just have to let the investigators do their work."
At his lawyer's office yesterday, a soft-spoken Jama Jama disputed the
officers' claim that he provoked Constable Roy Preston. "This guy was
big. There's no way that I could put my hands on the officer." Jama Jama
is 5-foot-7 and weighed about 135 pounds at the time of the incident.
On the desk in front of Jama Jama yesterday was a collection of
photographs he said were taken the following day. They show him with a
badly bruised face, swollen lip and a missing tooth. Jama Jama says the
brunt of his injuries happened across the road when four officers caught
up to him. There is no videotape footage of what happened after Jama
Jama ran from the scene.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------
`This guy was big. There's no way that I could put my hands on the
officer.'
Said Jama Jama, 21, on charges he assaulted an officer
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------
In his notes, Preston says the accused (Jama Jama) apologized for
hitting him. His notes also refer to Jama Jama telling officers he was
injured during fights at a party held earlier in the evening to
celebrate Caribana.
Jama Jama said he and others gathered outside Tim Hortons did attend an
earlier party on Albion Rd. where police were called because of
disturbances. But Jama Jama said he was not involved in fights at the
party.
Also released by Vaughan yesterday was the police synopsis of the
incident and photocopies of the officers' notes. Vaughan says he waited
to see the crown's evidence before acknowledging the existence of the
videotape. Prior to the start of a trial, the crown must turn over all
evidence as part of mandatory disclosure rules.
No one disputes an altercation among a group of men was taking place
when police pulled up outside the doughnut shop at 5:15 a.m. on Aug. 4.
"Officers identified themselves as they approached and PC Roy Preston
took control of one of the combatants, the accused, by grabbing his arm.
The accused turned around and with both arms struck out at the officer,
hitting him in the upper chest. The accused broke free from the officer
and began running," reads the synopsis written by Constable Doreen
Molyneaux of 23 Division.
"The officers who came on scene observed the accused assault PC Preston
and took up chase. The accused was subdued a short distance away,
arrested and transported to 23 Division."
There is no mention of Preston punching Jama Jama. Preston and other
officers don't mention a punch either.
"I have male by the arm (left) bringing him to side of vehicle," reads
arresting officer Preston's account. "Male strikes out with both arms
hitting me in upper chest. Tell male to stop resisting and attempt to
take control of male, male again breaks free and starts running over
boulevard north over Albion Rd."
Constable Jason Taylor's notes describe similar circumstances.
"Observe P.C. Preston #99925 attempt to take physical control of male —
took male by left arm. Male resists by swinging both arms and striking
P.C. Preston #99925 in upper chest. P.C. Preston #99925 attempt to again
control of male. Male runs north across Albion Rd. into ditch."
Fantino was asked by reporters yesterday about the status of the
officers while the investigation is ongoing. "I can't tell you that
right now because that's a determination that is going to have to be
made as the investigation progresses."
Jama Jama, who is a landed immigrant after arriving in Canada from
Somalia in 1995, has no criminal convictions. He said yesterday he is
still suffering from his injuries and feels badly because he feels the
officers "wanted to destroy my dignity or destroy my life when they
charge me for something I didn't commit."
He says he shouldn't have run away but was scared and didn't want to
wait for the next blow. "I wasn't thinking, but I know it's bad to run
from the cops."
Vaughan said he's not trying to make this into a racial incident. "I'm
not saying that the division where these police officers came from is a
bad division. I'm not casting aspersions on that division or the Toronto
Police Service as a whole."
But Vaughan says it is a good thing there is a videotape, and Jama Jama
concurs. "Oh man, I'm lucky. Imagine if there was no tape what would
happen to me. Probably I would be going back home for no reason."
A landed immigrant can be deported if he commits a criminal offence.
with file from Jack Lakey
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