Here’s more dirty filth on our splendid Police Department and their, shall we say, gray and violent history. I’ve stumbled upon something very troubling yesterday. A few days ago, a retired Judge, a lovely man by many accounts, by the title of Honorable Commissioner William Davies, heard opening statements from 15 lawyers acting for the Vancouver police, ambulance, coroner’s service, the criminal-justice branch and four major aboriginal groups, about a very interesting case. This is just as heinous as the Taser death in Vancouver recently, only a tad less attacking, yet equally as shocking. Have you heard of Frank Paul? A man who was found dead in 1998 in the DTES whose death, for all intents and purposes, is only now being investigated. My thinking is, wtf? What’s wrong with this picture? Is this simply a typo? Nope. The date is right.
Allegedly, a month after Vancouver police “dumped” the body of Frank Paul in a downtown alley, where he eventually died of hypothermia, it was reported that police told Paul’s Mik’maq family in Big Cove, New Brunswick that he’d been killed by a hit-and-run driver. Sure, when someone freezes to death that’s the PC thing to say, to avoid all responsibility. And, suffice it to say, that was nothing less than a lie. On December 6, 1998, the body of Frank Joseph Paul was found in an alley in the Downtown East Side (DTES) of Vancouver. He died of hypothermia while “in custody” of the Vancouver Police Department.
Here are the juicy details, as a lot of information hasn’t been released to this date. But, suffice it to say, allegedly Police officers dragged him out of the police station and into a van, even though he was obviously unconscious, and then dumped him in an alley, in the middle of winter. What was done to document this at the time: very little. The Vancouver Police Department imposed a two day suspension on one of the officers involved for discreditable conduct and a one day suspension on the other for neglect of duty, and decided not to lay criminal charges. This is where the paper-trail starts. And this is where I thought, hmmm, I think people would be curious about it. Back in that day, former Police Complaint Commissioner Don Morrison advised the Vancouver Police Department that a Public Hearing would not be appropriate, citing that ‘extended delays’ and ‘other public interest considerations’ were more pressing at the time. And today, nine years later, here we go. I’d like to hear what y’all got to say about this. What a wonderful city we’re living in…
PICTURE CREDIT: Andersdenkend’s photostream
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