RCMP in alternate universe on Dziekanski file

The Chronicle Herald Mar 10

PAUL SCHNEIDEREIT

ROBERT Dziekanski did raise a stapler and scream, just as the Mounties testifying at the Braidwood inquiry in British Columbia have claimed. That inquiry is investigating the death of the Polish immigrant after he was Tasered by the RCMP at the Vancouver airport in October 2007.

There’s a crucial difference in what happened and what officers say happened, however.

According to the officers’ statements at the time and their testimony at the inquiry, Dziekanski screamed, raised a stapler over his head and came at the Mounties. Fearing for his and his colleagues’ safety, Const. Kweski Millington, the only officer armed with a Taser, said he then fired his stun gun – without issuing a warning first, as he had been trained to do, because, he claimed, there wasn’t enough time.

But if you carefully watch the video of the incident, shot by a bystander, here’s what you’ll see: After the Mounties arrive, they walk up to Dziekanski. A few moments later, Dziekanski throws his hands up, turns and walks over to a table (where he must have picked up the stapler). Then he again faces the four Mounties, now spread out around him.

As Dziekanski stands there – note, with his hands at his side – there is a crack, presumably the sound of the Taser being discharged. Dziekanski’s reaction is immediate. He screams in pain. His body convulses. As he screams, his arms, including the right one gripping the stapler, flail. Seconds later, he falls to the ground. Still screaming, he is Tasered several more times. He never stops screaming, in fact, until he lays motionless on the floor.

There are more discrepancies between the police statements and what the video shows. But there’s no doubt the major one is between what the officers claim was the primary cause for use of the Taser – Dziekanski’s alleged screaming "attack" – and what anyone spending 10 minutes on YouTube can see – that Dziekanski makes no move towards the officers before being shocked. In that gap lies the tattered reputation of our legendary national police force.

The immediate, obvious damage is in the questions now sure to be raised about the credibility of other Mounties who present statements of facts within our justice system.

Somehow, three of the four Mounties who have so far given testimony at the Braidwood inquiry noted, in the hours after the incident, an imaginary attack by Dziekanski, an attack we know never happened. The lawyer for the Polish government has accused the officers of "cooking up" a common story, unaware of the amateur video. Const. Millington has denied any cover-up.

It’s worth noting, at this point, that the RCMP sought to keep that damning video from being released publicly.

Which leads to the second, deeper problem that is part of the fallout from the Dziekanski incident. Last December, the Crown announced that the four officers, based on the report of an internal police investigation, would face no criminal charges in this case.

Did the RCMP close ranks to protect their own, despite the truth of what happened? Based on what’s come out since then, it certainly appears that way. And just how, one has to wonder, could the B.C. Criminal Justice Branch assert, in its Dec. 12 statement letting the officers off the hook, that evidence from independent witnesses, the video and police statements was "materially consistent" when it was, instead, clearly at odds on crucial points?

Critics of the critics in the Dziekanski case – and other controversial Taser shootings and deaths – say the public simply doesn’t understand the tremendous pressures of police work.

You know what? I believe there’s something to that. I agree, far too often, that the "bad guys" get the sympathetic press. Police officers often deal with the dregs of humanity, people who think nothing of twisting facts to make it look like their "rights" have been violated by overzealous cops.

At the same time, no one – including the police – should be above scrutiny. When mistakes are made as, tragically, in the Dziekanski case, the public wants to trust that the right thing will be done. Otherwise, belief in the fairness of our system of justice itself is further eroded.

Sadly, the RCMP’s reputation has being squandered, bit by bit, by the force’s actions ever since Dziekanski died.