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VPD officer punches man in face


Kass9

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Screw all local police, this has to be one of the regions in English speaking North America where there's organized crime and junkies everywhere you look but the police are always going hard on regular people.

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if you read the youtube comments, one person says this cop is known for provoking and escalating. They also say that the cop may have been twisting hand/wrist which could be the reason for him pulling his hand away so that the cop could then try to use it as an excuse to punch him (not that punching would be justified anyways).

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We don't see what happened BEFORE the punch. What did the suspect do or say before the video was taken? The punch may be taken out of context.

Everyone say the police should be careful with their actions but things change when a tense situation like this arises. There is an adrenaline rush that causes people to lose control, no matter what training they have.

Perhaps people who criticize the police should follow in their footsteps.

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You don't get handcuffed for running a redlight on a bike. There is much more to the story than what is shown. I bet he mouthed off to the police, the victim is full of crap, "my arms don't bend that way"; yet he's sitting there with his hands behind his back. I'm tired of criminals acting like victims. Its simple, respect the law, respect the enforcers of the law and you wont get punched. Easy lesson to learn.

No reason to punch someone...."the law" says so.

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Forget about the media, I've seen with my own eyes and heard from people with credibility what a bunch of corrupt cowardly bullies these folks are.

As far as calling the police, only maybe if I need a speeding rollerblader ticketed or someone beat down for delivering newspapers, other than that they're more of a liability than anything.

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Being a policeman is a tough job. For all we know, they were probably mouthing off and being all cocky to the policemen from the very beginning. Policemen is probably pissed off. I don't believe he needed to punch him. The east Indian cop sounded more hes from Britain or Australia. I personally do appreciate the tough work they do, they get bitched at, swore at, they often get resisted, and get mouthed off at. When I was younger I always wanted to be a policemen, because when I worked the grave yard shift, I had to use 911 on occasion once every 2 weeks. They came very fast and was very helpful.

But in this case,. sorry to say, he deserved to get smoked in the face.

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We don't see what happened BEFORE the punch. What did the suspect do or say before the video was taken? The punch may be taken out of context.

Everyone say the police should be careful with their actions but things change when a tense situation like this arises. There is an adrenaline rush that causes people to lose control, no matter what training they have.

Perhaps people who criticize the police should follow in their footsteps.

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So I ended up watching the clip. And I have to say the guy didn't seem to be cooperating in placing his hands behind his back as the officer asked. 'The punch' didn't look that hard to me at all. Easy solution here is put your hands behind your back when you're under arrest.

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No doubt a Canadian FBI equivalent would help the organized crime situation.

However, you don't need to be an elite Special Agent with a sophisticated service behind him to notice so many of the blatantly obvious organized crime activities in this region, nor do you have to be one to notice all the local examples of police misconduct and corrupt behavior.

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Further information coming out.

A VPD supervisor attended and voided $109 headlight ticket and $29 helmet ticket but the ticket for running a red light remains.

VPD acknowledge that Akhavan was treated at the scene for a cut lip by firefighters and released on a promise to appear pending approval of a charge of obstructing a police officer.

My note - based upon the video and further reports from VPD I cannot see Crown Counsel approving a charge of obstructing a police officer - one of the best features of our charge approval process is so the police cannot use such tactics to intimidate as is the case in some other jurisdictions.

Here is the charge approval process from the Crown Counsel Policy Manual published by the Ministry of the Attorney General which provides inter alia:

Under the Crown Counsel Act, Crown Counsel have the responsibility of making a charge assessment decision which determines whether or not a prosecution will proceed.

In discharging that charge assessment responsibility, Crown Counsel must fairly, independently, and objectively examine the available evidence in order to determine:

1. whether there is a substantial likelihood of conviction; and, if so,

2. whether a prosecution is required in the public interest.

A substantial likelihood of conviction exists where Crown Counsel is satisfied there is a strong, solid case of substance to present to the Court. Once Crown Counsel is satisfied that there is a substantial likelihood of conviction (the evidentiary test), Crown Counsel must determine whether the public interest requires a prosecution by considering the particular circumstances of each case and the legitimate concerns of the local community.

http://www.ag.gov.bc.ca/prosecution-service/policy-man/pdf/CHA1-ChargeAssessmentGuidelines-2Oct2009.pdf

VPD refuses to say if the officer has been disciplined in the past. Unlike discipline for BC lawyers which is in a public searchable database ( http://www.lawsociet...ions/search.cfm ), the VPD do not make discipline decisions a matter of the public record. Perhaps that should change?

A Vancouver police officer is being investigated after the arrest of a cyclist in Yaletown was captured on video and rapidly shared with over 3,000 Facebook users.

In the video, the officer is seen punching Andishae Akhavan once in the face from behind while he is being handcuffed.

“Not only is it wrong for a person to behave that way, but for a police officer to behave that way?” Akhavan said. “I don’t understand — it seems like a big mess and mistake on their part.”

Social media sites on Thursday morning were buzzing with messages of both outrage and support toward the officer. While civil rights groups weighed in on the use of force, the police union backed the officer’s actions.

Police union president Tom Stamatakis told CKNW this morning that a punch can be considered an appropriate use of force. He said there is probably more to the story than the video shows because it is unlikely that someone would be arrested just for running through a red light or not wearing a helmet.

But Michael Vonn, policy director for the BC Civil Liberties Association, was “alarmed” by the use of violence.

“While police have the power to use reasonable force, if needed, in carrying out their duties, the video leads to questions as to whether this punch was an unnecessary and violent overreaction,” said Vonn.

VPD spokesman Sgt. Randy Fincham said Thursday that the officer has been with the department for four years and he is taking some regularly scheduled time off. He would not comment on whether the officer had previously been disciplined.

“Internal discipline records are not a matter of public record,” he said, in an email.

The incident occurred around 11 p.m. Tuesday when Akhavan stopped at a red light next to an unmarked car with two plainclothes officers who alleged he had just run another light on Beatty Street near BC Place.

Friend Mike Schwarz was driving by and began filming the arrest of an indignant Akhavan, angry after being ticketed thrice for the red light, cycling without a helmet and riding at night without proper lights.

“I was saying I’m a block away from home, I just want to get home,” Akhavan said.

As he is being handcuffed, Akhavan can be heard asking the officer, “What is this for?” He appears to move and then the officer punches him in the face. Then someone can be heard saying “What the hell was that?”

The plainclothes officer then asks Schwarz to move aside and not interfere with his work.

Schwarz said the officer got more aggressive just before he began filming the incident.

“The turning point was (Akhavan) said, ‘This is bulls**t!’ cause he was trying to get out of getting the ticket,” Schwarz said. “The same way that the officer reacted to Andi saying ‘this is bulls**t’ is the same way the officer reacted to Andi turning his body ever so slightly — it was a gross overreaction for what happened in both situations.”

Fincham said in an email that Akhavan was treated at the scene for a cut lip by firefighters and released on a promise to appear pending approval of a charge of obstructing a police officer.

“The incident has also been reported to the professional standards section of the Vancouver police department who will in turn notify the Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner,” Fincham wrote.

A VPD supervisor arrived on the scene after the incident was captured on video and nixed his $109 headlight ticket and $29 helmet ticket, Akhavan said. He still has to pay the $167 ticket for running a red light, Akhavan said.

Schwarz, founder of the popular nightlife website Clubzone, uploaded his video to Facebook Wednesday afternoon and within several hours over 1,000 users had commented. The vast majority of commenters castigated what they saw as the officer’s heavy-handed tactics, some in profanity-laced rants.

http://www.vancouver...l#ixzz2OrFSIAdp

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Being a policeman is a tough job. For all we know, they were probably mouthing off and being all cocky to the policemen from the very beginning. Policemen is probably pissed off. I don't believe he needed to punch him. The east Indian cop sounded more hes from Britain or Australia. I personally do appreciate the tough work they do, they get bitched at, swore at, they often get resisted, and get mouthed off at. When I was younger I always wanted to be a policemen, because when I worked the grave yard shift, I had to use 911 on occasion once every 2 weeks. They came very fast and was very helpful.

But in this case,. sorry to say, he deserved to get smoked in the face.

So how about teachers then? They get disrespected, sworn at, etc. by high school students...they can just punch unruly students in the face then?

Not quite sure why it matters where the cop was from? Doesn't.

Many jobs are "tough" but you can't punch people when you get frustrated or disrespected.

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So how about teachers then? They get disrespected, sworn at, etc. by high school students...they can just punch unruly students in the face then?

Not quite sure why it matters where the cop was from? Doesn't.

Many jobs are "tough" but you can't punch people when you get frustrated or disrespected.

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As someone studying to become a police officer I can say that in no way was the officer's actions justified. Of course there could be more to the story but from what I see it doesn't look good on the officer.

On another note, I'm glad we're able again to have a (somewhat) polite and professional discussion on this topic. This thread would have been extremely full of cringe at this point if this was 2010. (I'm looking at you Scorpio Egg :) )

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As someone studying to become a police officer I can say that in no way was the officer's actions justified. Of course there could be more to the story but from what I see it doesn't look good on the officer.

On another note, I'm glad we're able again to have a (somewhat) polite and professional discussion on this topic. This thread would have been extremely full of cringe at this point if this was 2010. (I'm looking at you Scorpio Egg :) )

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