Crime & Punishment

The Canadian Taxpayers' Federation joined with various other political activists and a few Conservatives on Parliament Hill on Saturday to protest high gas prices. Or, more accurately, to protest the oppressive taxes charged on top of high gasoline prices."Let's work to ensure that consumer anger becomes voter anger and that this is an issue in the next federal election," said John Williamson federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers' Federation at the rally.Considering that taxes from all governments make up about 45% of the price of a litre of gas it seems to be a significant point that relief for consumers would best be provided if the leeches that masquerade as our federal government would back the taxes off even if only a little.But Finance Minister Ralph Goodale threw cold water on that request when he said lowering taxes would only provide minimal relief. But the kicker is what he followed that up with when he said the money would be better used by Ottawa and poured into federal programs.Really Ralph? Like what? Another Adscam? Perhaps an expansion of the Gun Registry? This is exactly the attitude that underlines why this country is in the state it's in. Why we're the highest taxed country in the G8 and businesses are taxed higher here than in any country in the world save and except the Communist country of China for God's sake.This country needs relief from the Liberals and more of their "programs." Leo Knightleo@primetimecrime.com

After last week’s pieces on the impasse between the Independent Investigations Office and the Vancouver Police Union, I got many comments essentially asking how did we get to this point? The simple answer is because the IIO views its role in investigating the actions of the police as to gather evidence with which to prosecute police. This is, of course, the doing of the first Chief Civilian Director, Richard Rosenthal, who ran the organization for a tumultuous four years. Instead, what they should be seeing as their mandate, is to investigate to find the truth wherever that may lead. If there is evidence of police criminal misconduct then a prosecution should be brought to bar. And the same standard needs to apply as it does to police before recommending charges against any member of the public. The concept of civilian oversight is fine with most police I talk to. But, they must have confidence in those who conduct that oversight. From its inception the IIO has demonstrated in case after case they are not competent investigators and thus, the impasse with the VPU. The other real issue is their focus on the “Affected Person” and only police actions as they relate to that person. They don’t consider events as a whole and what caused the person to act as he or she did. No clearer demonstration of that failure can be made than their handling of the police shooting at the Starlight Casino. I have written much of that case and won’t drag...

Regular Hells Angel lawyer Greg DelBigio is really stretching the bounds of credulity with his latest argument in defense of Ronaldo Lising. Lising's latest arrest came in the Mountie's Project EPandora. DelBigio has been doing his level best to get the charges against his client tossed. And fair enough, that's his job. But, the irony of his latest tack seems lost on him.Lising, incidently, is currently serving time for his conspiracy conviction arising out of VPD's Project Nova back in the mid - 90's. He was sentenced back in 2001 for his role in that case and fought his conviction and sentencing at every step until he finally ran out of legal options and had to go to jail.It was while he was out on bail going thorough his legal gymnastics that he got caught up in EPandora. And now we hear DelBigio trying to get the charges tossed because he claims an agent used by the RCMP put the public in danger. The agent, Michael Plante, infiltrated the Hells Angels and in doing so had to commit crimes.In closing arguments, DelBigio said, "The police were under a duty to ensure that the community was not endangered through Michael Plante's actions and yet the community was in danger."Come on Greg. Are you serious? The agent has to commit crimes to get cosy with your client and his pals. What, pray tell, does that suggest about your clients?The phrase "in defense of the indefensible" comes to mind.Leo Knightprimetimecrime@gmail.com

The job of Chief Constable of a modern police service is a difficult one. The occupier of the office has to be one part politician, one part police officer and one part masochist. In Calgary, it would seem, that Chief Constable Jack Beaton has managed to get and keep the top job without any of the required skills.Having met Beaton, I am pretty sure he is not an idiot. So, why does he keep doing and saying such idiotic things?Without delving too deeply into it, let’s take a peek at the past few days.The Calgary Police Association this past week released the results of a poll of its members which said, in a nutshell, that the rank and file had no confidence in the leadership of the Calgary Police Service and that the vast majority wanted a new chief to be recruited from outside the service.Pretty stunning stuff really. Beaton has been, frankly, an embarrassment to the taxpayers of Calgary with some of the idiotic things he has said publicly. Where to start? Hmm…well there was the lunacy he spouted about not thinking that police officers in China wouldn’t be able to speak English He apparently found out this little gem of the incredibly obvious when he was in China on an indefensible junket. . . sorry, recruiting drive.. I mean really. . . .if you actually thought that and found out the reality when you went there, would you admit how stupid you were publicly? Jack Beaton did.The...

One wonders if a more disingenuous press conference has been held in recent memory than the one held by lawyer Don Morrison and his “victim” clients, Vancouver firefighter Curtis Mason and his smarmy son, Grant.Yup, butter wouldn’t melt in that kid’s mouth now would it?The Masons were in front of the cameras claiming they were just minding their own business when members of the Vancouver Police Department jumped them. The video clip posted to YouTube by a Seattle resident clearly shows a different picture. In the video, we see three police officers engaged in what is called ground fighting with two men. And the fight is truly on. One of the individuals was fighting back against two VPD members and the other was one on one. The one on one battle is clearly going badly for the officer as they roll over a couple of times and the bad guy seems to be gaining the upper hand when Sgt. Keiron McConnell shows up and smacks the bad guy twice with his baton and helps the struggling officer gain control and hand cuff the offender.Also in the picture are a few firemen just standing around looking on. They had been on the scene because the Masons were in a traffic collision with a building. Were they intoxicated? Late on Saint Paddy’s Day? Perish the thought according to the Masons.When the police showed up, Mason the Younger allegedly pushed one of the officers trying...

Yesterday the IIO's Chief Civilian Director (CCD) Ron MacDonald released his conclusions into the circumstance of a police involved fatal shooting near Slocan, BC on October 13, 2014. Yes you read that right, 2014. The Commanding Officer of the RCMP in BC, Deputy Commissioner Brenda Butterworth-Carr promptly released a statement decrying the long delay. “The protracted nature of this review is unacceptable,” she said. The incident involved a manhunt in the mountains of the back country near Slocan, the town itself in lockdown for nearly five days. Think of it as a mini-Boston in the hours after the marathon bombings. Where this started was the police attending a rural location to investigate a dispute/possible assault call. They were met with an armed man who exchanged shots with police and fled into the back country. She continued, “This was a dynamic and dramatic series of events that has forever changed the police officers involved, a community and a family which lost a loved one. The techniques used and the resulting time delays in determining the circumstances compounded the trauma and severely limited the ability of many to move forward. The police officers were consistent in their participation in the IIO BC investigation and remained professional throughout the lengthy process. However, the delays have contributed unnecessarily to a state of extended uncertainty and stress that could have been avoided.” In his final report on the case, MacDonald, the newly appointed CCD  said this: “This investigation has taken an unfortunate length of time. This resulted from operational pressures within...

I'm left even more puzzled by the explanation provided by Calgary Police Chief Jack Beaton for his trip last week to the People's Republic of China.Beaton told Calgary listeners of QR77 that he was amazed that members of the National Police didn't speak English. He said that going over, he expected about half the force would speak English. No, really, he actually said that.So, what other reason could there be for saying something that blindingly naive?He says he was over there on behalf of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police. Okay. Who paid? The Chiefs or the taxpayers of Calgary?The trip was, ostensibly, having to do with "community policing" and Beaton was going to do some recruiting and "spreading the message" while in the most populous communist country on Earth.Community policing huh? That to me sounds as dubious as recruiting for a Canadian Police Service in a corrupt, communist country with a largely peasant population that is for the most part, uneducated and monolinguistic.In China, the National Police are the enforcement arm of a totalitarian state whose citizens are not allowed to exercise any of the basic freedoms we cherish in Canada.Community policing? Give me a break.So, what is this really all about? I don't know, but it smells a whole lot like a poorly thought-out justification for a public servant globe-trotting on a meaningless junket.Leo Knightleo@primetimecrime.com

While I'm sympathetic to the media following the Pickton trial, I have to say the lead story today was probably as lame as any I have seen in the last 25 years. To write a line story saying that there were more suspects in the Missing Women case than Willy Pickton and his brother Dave is well, to master the incredibly obvious.This is news?While I would never argue that what passes for journalism these days is remotely similar to the lessons I learned as a copy boy in the news room of the Montreal Star in the early '70s, one would at least hope that a story saying the police investigated all possible leads in a massive serial killer file is, well, not news.That's what they do. Dave Pickton had access to the farm where all the DNA and body parts were found. Was he a suspect? Duh! Does he remain a suspect? Duh!Dave Pickton is an aquaintaince of some nefarious people. Is that an aspect of the investigation? Duh!C'mon folks. A lot of bad shit happened on that property. We know this because the DNA of over 20 women who were reported missing was found there. Is it not likely that the investsigation that has consumed millions of taxpayer dollars in police resources may have focussed on more than one person a reality or likelihood?There's a lot of aspects of this case as yet unreported. One would hope the editors of the mainstream media would understand...

Since I started looking at the circumstances surrounding the murder charge laid against Delta Police Constable Jordan MacWilliams the biggest question that remains unanswered is why. Last week in a discussion with me on Global’s Unfiltered with Jill Krop, former Crown Counsel Sandy Garossino tried to explain the charge approval process as it is practiced in BC. In a nutshell, she explained that for a charge to be approved it must have a “substantial likelihood of conviction” and “be in the public interest.” If a police officer abuses their authority then certainly it would be in the public interest to charge them. But in this case, MacWilliams was on a tactical call out with the Municipal Integrated Emergency Response team to a shots fired, hostage taking call. After MacWilliams and two colleagues heroically affected the rescue of the hostage, a then employee of the casino who was arriving for work, a stand off ensued which lasted five hours. All the while Mehrdad Bayrami, 48, was waving a pistol he had already fired three times. In fact, he ejected the clip late in the incident, leaving one round in the spout and pointed at one of the ERT officers held up one finger and said, “I only need one.” So, with the means and the stated aim, the police tried to arrest and disarm the suspect using a tactical, non-lethal approach using a flash bang and an ARWEN gun. As the “non-lethal” officers broke cover, they were covered by MacWilliams, designated in a ‘lethal’...

It is Christmas and I am filled with the joy of the season.  But only to a point. On the day before Christmas Eve, a 19 year old Manitoba man was in court asking to have his remaining two years in custody changed from "closed" custody to "open" custody.  The change in status would allow the corrections system to release the man on unescorted releases for days, weeks or months. The man is serving a six year jail sentence - the maximum allowed under the Youth Criminal Justice Act - for the inexplicable and brutal rape, murder and defilement of the body of his 79 year old grandmother. He was 14 at the time and is afforded all the protections of the YCJA.  Which of course means that he cannot be identified nor can his victim for fear that may identify him.  But more importantly, the police cannot warn the public as they can with an adult offender that Corrections Canada unleashes prematurely on the community. Despite the fact he is now an adult. Now, lest you think this poor miscreant was "just a boy" and has learned the error of his wayward youth through the generous treatment he has received in the youth prison system and has thus earned the right for early unescorted absences from prison, uh, no.  That would not seem to be the case despite the protestations to the contrary of workers in the broken corrections system. Elana Soloku who is the probation officer for the granny killer said, "I...