Legal Advocacy groups applaud the VPD for suspending and investigating officers accused of police brutality and say police violence a serious issue in Vancouver
January 24, 2003

Legal advocacy groups PIVOT Legal Society and Justice for Girls applaud the VPD for suspending 6 officers for an alleged assault on 3 homeless men. Groups also say that police harassment and brutality is a serious and ongoing issue in Vancouver.

Yesterday’s allegations of police brutality come as no surprise to the Pivot Legal Society and Justice for Girls. It adds one more piece to the growing body of evidence which exposes systemic and brutal police violence against marginalized persons in Vancouver.

In October 2002, Pivot Legal Society made public the contents of fifty affidavits demonstrating police torture, beatings, unlawful detention, illegal strip searches, and illegal entry into homes by Police. The report clearly demonstrates the fact that police misconduct and brutality is not unusual, appears to target particular criminalized and marginalized populations, and is not limited to a particular set of officers. Since releasing the report, Pivot continues to receive regular calls regarding police misconduct. “To Serve and Protect” provided a number of recommendations for legal and systemic reform, including a call for public inquiry and changes to the police misconduct investigation process. John Richardson, Executive Director of Pivot, points out, “What is unusual in this case is the fact that an investigation is taking place and criminal charges are being considered against the officers. The reason why they are being so proactive is because an officer broke rank - the complaint was made internally by a police officer. If the complaint was made by marginalized person it would likely have gone nowhere.”

Similarly, Annabel Webb, legal advocate at Justice for Girls says “Allegations of police brutality against the homeless come as no surprise to us. We have attended the hospital in response to such brutality in the past and documented significant injuries to homeless teenage girls. Though we are pleased that this particular incident is under investigation, we continue to call for an independent inquiry into police harassment and brutality in Vancouver.”