XPost: talk.politics.drugs, talk.politics.guns, alt.current-events.usa   
   XPost: talk.politics.misc, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.politics.usa.republican   
   XPost: alt.politics.bush, alt.law-enforcement   
   From: DEMI_GOD_@SHAW.CA   
      
   Protest rally targets Vancouver police conduct   
      
   CTV.ca News Staff   
      
   Jeff Berg died from injuries suffered when he was arrested by Vancouver   
   police and his sister says there are other stories such as his.   
      
   "My story is not unique, there is a disturbing pattern here that needs to be   
   fixed, and something has to happen to bring change and make us feel as   
   though we are protected," Julie Berg-Wyman told CTV.ca.   
      
   Berg-Wyman has formed a coalition that wants to change the way   
   investigations into police misconduct are handled. A rally was held at the   
   Vancouver Art Gallery Sunday afternoon to highlight the issue.   
      
   The Vancouver Police Department has faced allegations of brutality and   
   misconduct in a series of recent high-profile cases.   
      
   Earlier this year, six officers were charged in connection with the beatings   
   of three men in Stanley Park. Other allegations of police misconduct emerged   
   after a riot broke out when a Guns N' Roses concert was cancelled last   
   November.   
      
   B.C.'s new police complaints commissioner, Dirk Ryneveld, reopened the Frank   
   Paul case after releasing a copy of a police surveillance video in late   
   June. Paul died after he was released from a Vancouver drunk tank.   
      
   The tape shows Paul being dragged by his arms out towards an alley. The   
   aboriginal man died hours later of hypothermia after being left in   
   near-freezing temperatures in December 1998.   
      
   "I believe they need to be totally overhauled. This is probably one of the   
   most corrupt forces in Canada, I think it makes the LAPD look like saints.   
   They have been operating under, I believe, a corrupt culture for years,"   
   Berg-Wyman said.   
      
   In her brother's death, the Vancouver police cleared their officers of any   
   wrongdoing following an internal investigation of the October 2000 incident.   
   The department stands by that conclusion, but Ryneveld ordered a public   
   hearing in June.   
      
   Ryneveld said the VPD investigation may have been flawed when he ordered the   
   hearing. He cited conflicting testimony and said witnesses should be   
   questioned while under oath and subject to cross-examination.   
      
   An autopsy concluded Berg died from an aneurysm that was brought on by a   
   blow to the neck. On the night of his arrest, police stopped Berg outside a   
   marijuana grow operation.   
      
   The VPD told Berg-Wyman that her brother had resisted arrested. She believed   
   there was a cover-up and hired two private investigators who tracked down   
   witnesses, including one who had videotaped part of the incident.   
      
   "He was gun-butted to the head, then kicked twice in the head like a soccer   
   ball and then dragged on the pavement. That was unnecessary -- so he died a   
   violent death," Berg-Wyman said.   
      
   Const. Sarah Bloor said the VPD was satisfied with the result of their   
   investigation, adding that it was sent to Crown counsel and came back with   
   no charge. She said the department would co-operate fully with any public   
   hearing process.   
      
   "On the rally itself, the Vancouver Police Department certainly realizes   
   that it is everyone's right to publicly state their opinion. We are aware of   
   the situation. We will have a police presence, as we would for any   
   demonstration that would occur in the city," she said ahead of the protest.   
      
   A petition requesting a judicial inquiry into the practice of police   
   investigating themselves was circulated at the rally. Berg-Wyman believes an   
   independent body should be in charge of such investigations.   
      
      
   --   
   As Benjamin Franklin advised, "Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God.   
   Empty the coins of your purse into your mind, and your mind will fill your   
   purse with gold"   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)