VPD decision on constable's misconduct allegations 'incorrect': police watchdog
Credit to Author: Harrison Mooney| Date: Thu, 06 Feb 2020 07:24:16 +0000
B.C.’s police watchdog has appointed a retired judge to review a VPD disciplinary decision throwing out a number of allegations against a member accused of misconduct.
Special Municipal Constable Rajdeep Mann faced a total of five misconduct allegations related to the Nov. 2017 arrest of a Vancouver concertgoer, Colin Dowler, who said in a formal complaint that he was sworn at and assaulted during booking. Mann was initially investigated for two allegations of abuse of authority and one of discourtesy, but after investigators uncovered evidence that the constable deleted video from Dowler’s phone and Mann denied doing this, allegations of disreputable conduct and deceit were added.
At a disciplinary hearing, however, Mann was found to have committed no misconduct but discourtesy, a relatively minor transgression likely to be punished with little more than an oral reprimand. All other allegations, including those related to the deleted cell phone video, were deemed unsubstantiated by Supt. Steve Eely.
“Our office reviewed that decision and we disagree,” said Andrea Spindler, the deputy police complaint commissioner, echoing Wednesday’s OPCC news release, which declared that the police board’s findings “were incorrect.”
Retired B.C. Supreme Court Judge Ron McKinnon has been appointed to conduct a “paper review” of all evidence and materials from the investigation and discipline hearing.
In notifying all parties of the review, the police complaint commissioner, Clayton Pecknold, stressed the importance of public confidence in the police, the handling of complaints, and the disciplinary process.
“I have determined that based on evidence obtained during the investigation, including video, Superintendent Eely erred in finding that … Mann’s use of force was not oppressive, reckless or unnecessary,” said Pecknold.
Pecknold also disagreed with Eely’s finding that Mann deleted the video by accident.
“The video evidence and Constable Mann’s evidence throughout this matter do not support the finding that the video was accidentally deleted,” he said.
A date for the review has yet to be determined.
CLICK HERE to report a typo.
Is there more to this story? We’d like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. Email vantips@postmedia.com.