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... and when things go wrong. I have to admit I am floored by what is going on here in Edmonton. The short story is that the Edm. Police Service has been getting a hard time recently from some journalists and the Police Commission itself (the civilian oversight, they give the chief his marching orders) over a couple of issues such as high speed pursuits and handeling of suspects.
There has been a story brewing for some time about the police targeting one of the prominent journalists and the chair(man) of the Police Commission in a drunk driving sting operation. Seven police officers spent an evening surveiling the two at a function held in a lounge. The poo is hitting the fan since another news organization got ahold of transcripts of police radio traffic that contradict the statements of the police chief about the incident.
All I can say is Holy ****! How ever did those cops think they could get away with targeting a prominent critic in the media, and... THEIR CIVILIAN BOSS!??
The issue is serious enough that despite the Police Commission being very quiet on the issue recently, the Solicitor General of the province (the top cop) is coming out swinging at the chief and the officers involved.
In short, it looks like the EPS is in for a good ***** slapping in the near future. The chief all but resigned today. All I can say is thank God I don't live in a police state, do I?
A couple of recent articles.
There has been a story brewing for some time about the police targeting one of the prominent journalists and the chair(man) of the Police Commission in a drunk driving sting operation. Seven police officers spent an evening surveiling the two at a function held in a lounge. The poo is hitting the fan since another news organization got ahold of transcripts of police radio traffic that contradict the statements of the police chief about the incident.
All I can say is Holy ****! How ever did those cops think they could get away with targeting a prominent critic in the media, and... THEIR CIVILIAN BOSS!??
The issue is serious enough that despite the Police Commission being very quiet on the issue recently, the Solicitor General of the province (the top cop) is coming out swinging at the chief and the officers involved.
In short, it looks like the EPS is in for a good ***** slapping in the near future. The chief all but resigned today. All I can say is thank God I don't live in a police state, do I?
A couple of recent articles.
Cop tapes 'sickening'
New evidence shows police targeted me as payback for critical columns
There's shocking new evidence that Edmonton Police Service (EPS) officers carried out an unwarranted drunk-driving sting as payback because I've been critical of police in my columns.
Late yesterday I was given the opportunity to hear a tape recording of police officers talking on the night of a Nov. 18 drunk-driving sting at Overtime Broiler & Taproom downtown. The sting targeted me and Police Commission Chairman Martin Ignasiak.
The tape reveals conversations between some of the seven participating police officers on the night of the sting. Police recorded the two-way radio transmission and a transcript of the conversations are part of the EPS report into the sting. But the transcript and full report have not been made public by police.
Many of the things that were said on that tape were sickening. It suggests there's a real need for an independent body to re-examine the finding of the EPS internal probe. Police Chief Fred Rayner on Thursday released just eight pages of report highlights.
The conversations on the tape strongly suggest the unwarranted sting was conducted because some police officers don't like what I write in my opinion columns.
It calls into question whether police truly were on a routine drunk-driving operation as they've long claimed.
It also calls into doubt whether cops had a legitimate complainant who'd contacted them to suggest I was a risk to drink and drive. Rayner insists they had a legitimate complainant that evening but won't provide any more details.
It illustrates some police officers on the sting feel extreme animosity toward me - bordering on hatred. One person on the tape is heard accusing me of stealing columns off the Internet. Another person is heard to joke that any police officer who busted me for impaired driving would be rewarded with drinks for life.
What is said on the tape also shows that the police know where I live and have camped out in front of my home.
The tape also suggests I'll be specifically targeted in the future by police hoping to catch me driving impaired.
Two senior officers are facing Police Act charges after the probe into the botched sting.
Seven cops, including two undercover officers, conducted the sting during a meet-and-greet for journalists and provincial election candidates sponsored by the Canadian Association of Journalists.
Five other EPS employees - four cops and a civilian - received official warnings for inappropriately pulling up personal information on me and Ignasiak from police information systems.
Rayner has decided the seven cops who carried out the sting "will not face disciplinary action" because they were just following orders.
Police admit they were targeting me with seven cops that night after allegedly getting a tip I was going to drive impaired.
They also targeted Ignasiak. Both of us left the event that night in cabs.
The operation came to light when a Sun reporter overheard police two-way radio transmissions that night. Other reporters at the event learned there were two undercover cops present. One of those cops told a female journalist his real name.
The revelations on tape are the most shocking recent news that comes amid a string of unanswered questions about the sting and Rayner's response to it.
One has to wonder why Rayner insisted at the Thursday news conference that Ignasiak was not targeted by police. An EPS spokesman a day later admitted Ignasiak had indeed been a sting target.
The chief told the news conference I was the target of the attempted sting but it was not because I've sometimes been critical of police in my columns.
"Diotte was the subject of our attention, not because of who he is, but because of information that was received relative to his behaviour or what his conduct might be relative to drinking and driving," Rayner told reporters Thursday.
How can he conclude that when there's still a disciplinary hearing pending? Has that officer who's under investigation told Rayner I wasn't targeted because of who I am? And Rayner just takes it as gospel?
How can the chief say there is no political agenda against me from cops when the police union has now blacklisted the Sun, and some of its members won't talk to us? Isn't that a huge warning bell that there are political agendas at the EPS against journalists?
Why were the cops running my name and Ignasiak's name in their computer system prior to the sting?
Why do police now claim the sting continued long after Ignasiak and I left the bar? Their original news release said the operation ended when Ignasiak left.
The full report along with the tape must immediately be made public.
Citizens should be deeply shocked and concerned. After all, if a group of police officers can target an outspoken journalist with no criminal record, who else have they targeted or will they target?
New evidence shows police targeted me as payback for critical columns
There's shocking new evidence that Edmonton Police Service (EPS) officers carried out an unwarranted drunk-driving sting as payback because I've been critical of police in my columns.
Late yesterday I was given the opportunity to hear a tape recording of police officers talking on the night of a Nov. 18 drunk-driving sting at Overtime Broiler & Taproom downtown. The sting targeted me and Police Commission Chairman Martin Ignasiak.
The tape reveals conversations between some of the seven participating police officers on the night of the sting. Police recorded the two-way radio transmission and a transcript of the conversations are part of the EPS report into the sting. But the transcript and full report have not been made public by police.
Many of the things that were said on that tape were sickening. It suggests there's a real need for an independent body to re-examine the finding of the EPS internal probe. Police Chief Fred Rayner on Thursday released just eight pages of report highlights.
The conversations on the tape strongly suggest the unwarranted sting was conducted because some police officers don't like what I write in my opinion columns.
It calls into question whether police truly were on a routine drunk-driving operation as they've long claimed.
It also calls into doubt whether cops had a legitimate complainant who'd contacted them to suggest I was a risk to drink and drive. Rayner insists they had a legitimate complainant that evening but won't provide any more details.
It illustrates some police officers on the sting feel extreme animosity toward me - bordering on hatred. One person on the tape is heard accusing me of stealing columns off the Internet. Another person is heard to joke that any police officer who busted me for impaired driving would be rewarded with drinks for life.
What is said on the tape also shows that the police know where I live and have camped out in front of my home.
The tape also suggests I'll be specifically targeted in the future by police hoping to catch me driving impaired.
Two senior officers are facing Police Act charges after the probe into the botched sting.
Seven cops, including two undercover officers, conducted the sting during a meet-and-greet for journalists and provincial election candidates sponsored by the Canadian Association of Journalists.
Five other EPS employees - four cops and a civilian - received official warnings for inappropriately pulling up personal information on me and Ignasiak from police information systems.
Rayner has decided the seven cops who carried out the sting "will not face disciplinary action" because they were just following orders.
Police admit they were targeting me with seven cops that night after allegedly getting a tip I was going to drive impaired.
They also targeted Ignasiak. Both of us left the event that night in cabs.
The operation came to light when a Sun reporter overheard police two-way radio transmissions that night. Other reporters at the event learned there were two undercover cops present. One of those cops told a female journalist his real name.
The revelations on tape are the most shocking recent news that comes amid a string of unanswered questions about the sting and Rayner's response to it.
One has to wonder why Rayner insisted at the Thursday news conference that Ignasiak was not targeted by police. An EPS spokesman a day later admitted Ignasiak had indeed been a sting target.
The chief told the news conference I was the target of the attempted sting but it was not because I've sometimes been critical of police in my columns.
"Diotte was the subject of our attention, not because of who he is, but because of information that was received relative to his behaviour or what his conduct might be relative to drinking and driving," Rayner told reporters Thursday.
How can he conclude that when there's still a disciplinary hearing pending? Has that officer who's under investigation told Rayner I wasn't targeted because of who I am? And Rayner just takes it as gospel?
How can the chief say there is no political agenda against me from cops when the police union has now blacklisted the Sun, and some of its members won't talk to us? Isn't that a huge warning bell that there are political agendas at the EPS against journalists?
Why were the cops running my name and Ignasiak's name in their computer system prior to the sting?
Why do police now claim the sting continued long after Ignasiak and I left the bar? Their original news release said the operation ended when Ignasiak left.
The full report along with the tape must immediately be made public.
Citizens should be deeply shocked and concerned. After all, if a group of police officers can target an outspoken journalist with no criminal record, who else have they targeted or will they target?
Edmonton police chief goes on leave as province decides whether to call inquiry
Last Updated Mon, 07 Feb 2005 20:19:30 EST
CBC News
EDMONTON - Edmonton's chief of police has gone on medical leave, just hours after the province's solicitor general said he might call an inquiry into operations within the department.
Word of Fred Rayner's departure was released by Edmonton Police Commission chairman Martin Ignasiak and is effective immediately.
Alberta Solicitor General Harvey Cenaiko said earlier he is considering whether a public inquiry should be called into a police drunk driving sting conducted last year in Edmonton.
Cenaiko says he's reviewed transcripts from the operation and believes a number of police officers did things that were wrong.
The sting apparently targeted Ignasiak, along with a newspaper columnist, Kerry Diotte.
Last week Rayner announced that two senior officers were facing charges under the police act and that their disciplinary hearings would be open to the public.
But critics say as many as seven other officers should be charged as well.
Cenaiko called the officers' conduct "extremely unprofessional."
"It is very inappropriate. It is obvious to me, having read it, that both these individuals were targeted and that's extremely unprofessional. There's some issues that are going to have to be dealt with.
"I'm going to have a meeting this afternoon with my staff, as well as some staff from the [police] commission and the Edmonton Police Service," he said.
The two men say they were targets of a drinking and driving sting because of critical comments they'd made about the police service. They were attending a Canadian Association of Journalists event. They said they weren't intoxicated and took cabs home.
Last Updated Mon, 07 Feb 2005 20:19:30 EST
CBC News
EDMONTON - Edmonton's chief of police has gone on medical leave, just hours after the province's solicitor general said he might call an inquiry into operations within the department.
Word of Fred Rayner's departure was released by Edmonton Police Commission chairman Martin Ignasiak and is effective immediately.
Alberta Solicitor General Harvey Cenaiko said earlier he is considering whether a public inquiry should be called into a police drunk driving sting conducted last year in Edmonton.
Cenaiko says he's reviewed transcripts from the operation and believes a number of police officers did things that were wrong.
The sting apparently targeted Ignasiak, along with a newspaper columnist, Kerry Diotte.
Last week Rayner announced that two senior officers were facing charges under the police act and that their disciplinary hearings would be open to the public.
But critics say as many as seven other officers should be charged as well.
Cenaiko called the officers' conduct "extremely unprofessional."
"It is very inappropriate. It is obvious to me, having read it, that both these individuals were targeted and that's extremely unprofessional. There's some issues that are going to have to be dealt with.
"I'm going to have a meeting this afternoon with my staff, as well as some staff from the [police] commission and the Edmonton Police Service," he said.
The two men say they were targets of a drinking and driving sting because of critical comments they'd made about the police service. They were attending a Canadian Association of Journalists event. They said they weren't intoxicated and took cabs home.
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