And that's why no one trusts cops any more.

Edmonton city police officer charged with perjury after being cleared of forging traffic tickets

A long-time member of the Edmonton Police Service has been charged with perjury for allegedly lying under oath during his criminal trial over forged traffic tickets.
Article content

Const. Lauren Skibinsky was found not guilty on three charges, including forgery, after a trial in January, police said in a Friday news release. The officer was accused of altering traffic tickets in May 2017.

Mountie will avoid jail for police chase, fatal shooting, Appeal Court rules in split decision

A former Mountie will not spend time in jail for his actions during a police chase that ended with the shooting death of a man in northern Manitoba, the province's Court of Appeal has ruled.

In a 2-1 decision, the court imposed a three-month sentence on Abram Letkeman but stayed an order that he spend any time behind bars.

The appeal ruling said a jail sentence "would have had an important purpose in deterring other police officers from overreaching the bounds of their authority and venturing into criminal conduct — and in loudly denouncing such conduct."

Even so, two of the three Appeal Court judges found the former Mountie still did not need to go to jail.

A lower court earlier ruled Letkeman would not have to serve jail time for the conviction of criminal negligence causing bodily harm related to his driving before the 2015 death of Steven Campbell outside Thompson. He was acquitted of manslaughter and other shooting-related charges.

The trial heard that Letkeman saw a Jeep early on a November morning as bars were closing in the northern community of about 15,000 people.

Letkeman testified he suspected the driver was impaired and attempted a traffic stop, but the Jeep drove away. He started to pursue the vehicle being driven by Campbell. There were also four passengers, including Campbell's girlfriend.

Court heard the former Mountie used his cruiser to hit the back of the Jeep to stop it. A use-of-force expert testified at trial that the move was against protocol and training, and was extremely risky.

Opened fire when Jeep moved

Letkeman continued to follow the vehicle on to a trail for all-terrain vehicles. He then used his police vehicle to T-bone the Jeep.

The officer testified he didn't wait for backup and walked in front of the Jeep. He told court the vehicle began to move toward him, so he fired his weapon.

Campbell, 39, was hit at least nine times. His girlfriend was also hit and court heard she suffers from severe, lifelong injuries.

Justice Chris Martin, who oversaw the trial, said in his decision he was torn about whether Letkeman should be incarcerated. He ruled there would be no benefit to putting the former officer behind bars and sentenced Letkeman to three years probation, 240 hours of community service and fined him $10,000.

The Court of Appeal decision, delivered last week, found Martin made an error in not sending the Mountie to jail.

"A custodial sentence is required in order to address the accused's misconduct, which seriously undermines the bond that should exist between the public and the police," the decision said.

But considering Letkeman had paid the fine and the time it took for the appeal hearing, two of the three judges decided against requiring the former Mountie to go to jail now.

Saint John police officers ordered not to wear thin blue line patches



The Saint John Police Force has ordered its officers to stop wearing thin blue line patches following social media posts of officers sporting the controversial patch.

Tweets posted on Thursday show Saint John police officers wearing the patches at King's Square on July 3, while present at a protest being held by members of the community.

The patch has acquired various connotations, with some supporters saying wearing the patch is a sign of solidarity between officers while critics say it fosters a dangerous attitude of opposition between police officers and civilians.

Community members say the protest on July 3 was about bringing awareness to the damage being done by colonialism, following ongoing news of the graves of Indigenous children being found at the sites of former residential schools.

It also followed the vandalization of the statue of Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley in the square.

Family of Black man fatally shot by police in Repentigny, Que., blame racism for his death

The family of a Repentigny, Que., man who died after police shot him three times in the stomach on Sunday are blaming anti-Black racism in the city's police force for his death and are demanding justice.

Marie-Mireille Bence, the mother of the victim, called police Sunday morning asking them to bring her son, Jean René Junior Olivier, 37, to the hospital because he was having a mental health issue.

"He told me he was seeing people around him, people wanting to hurt him," Bence told reporters alongside her family at a news conference Monday afternoon.

Instead of helping him, Bence said, six police officers arrived at her doorstep and shot him in the stomach. When police arrived, he had been holding a dinner knife, but the family said he had dropped it.

"He threw the knife on the ground and that's when they shot him. They shot him three times," Bence said.

"They're criminals. They killed my son," she said. "I called them for help and they showed up and killed him. I find it absurd because there were other ways of dealing with this, of bringing him under control."

Franco-Albertan awarded $22,250 in damages after 2006 police assaults

An Alberta man who was assaulted by police after speaking French and taking photos of the officers has been awarded $22,250 in damages by a Court of Queen's Bench judge.

In a lengthy written decision, Justice Jane Fagnan described one officer's misconduct as "high-handed, malicious, arbitrary and highly reprehensible."

Mario Dube encountered police just north of Beaumont on a Saturday evening in June 2006 at an impaired driving checkstop being operated by Edmonton Police Service and RCMP.

Dube was driving his wife's truck. The judge found he was not driving erratically or speeding, and none of the officers smelled alcohol.

According to the details of the case recorded in the decision, Dube was hard of hearing and spoke very loudly in French. He began taking photos and recording audio when Const. Troy Forester approached the driver's window.

Forester said he repeatedly asked for Dube's licence and registration, but had no way of knowing if the driver understood what he was saying.

Without giving any warning, Forester shattered the driver's window with his baton, sending glass shards flying into the 52-year-old's face.

Dube began bleeding profusely then drove away fearing for his safety, according to the document.

Police pursued the vehicle at speeds that were slightly over the posted 80 km/h limit. Two minutes later, Dube pulled over because blood was pouring down his face.

Forester got out of the police vehicle and immediately pepper-sprayed Dube in the face, then reached in and grabbed Dube by the neck as he tried to pull him out through the broken window. Dube was still wearing his seatbelt.

RCMP Const. Ryan Dlin then broke the passenger side window and unfastened the seatbelt.

Dube testified that he was thrown to the ground and handcuffed while four officers held his arms and legs. He was punched numerous times. He said that during the attack, one of the officers told him to "Speak English".

Ontario's chief pathologist determines what killed Soleiman Faqiri — 5 years after he died behind bars

Finding means case referred back to provincial police for possible criminal charges, lawyers say

Five years after Soleiman Faqiri died on the floor of an Ontario jail — shackled, pepper-sprayed and face down with his head covered — the province's chief forensic pathologist has determined just what killed him.

It's the answer to a question his family has been asking for years, only to be told again and again there was no way of knowing how the 30-year-old with schizophrenia died behind bars as he awaited transfer to a medical facility.

Until now.

Faqiri's official cause of death, as found by Dr. Michael Pollanen: "Prone position restraint and musculocutaneous injuries sustained during struggle, exertion and pepper spray exposure" in a person with an enlarged heart and worsening schizophrenia.

In other words, Faqiri's death was the result of being held face down on his stomach and the injuries he suffered while being physically restrained and repeatedly struck by a group of at least six guards at the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay, Ont., in 2016.

"Multiple musculocutaneous injuries were present due to blunt trauma caused by some combination of correctional officers striking Soleiman Faqiri, or his body hitting the ground or stationary objects during a violent struggle with the correctional officers," Pollanen said in a peer-reviewed forensic pathology review report dated Aug. 5.

"None of the injuries were individually fatal," Pollanen said in the report. "But, in combination, the injuries were a significant contributing factor in death."

As a result of the chief pathologist's report, the case has been referred back to the Ontario Provincial Police, meaning criminal charges could possibly be back on the table, the family's lawyers say.