Victoria police chief censured over 'joke'

For the second time in recent years, a joke by Victoria Police Chief Jamie Graham that fell flat has landed him in hot water. And this time, his purported witticism has prompted a disciplinary finding of “discreditable conduct” against him by the Victoria Police Board.

Chief Graham’s quip that an undercover police officer was driving a busload of anti-Olympic protesters to a demonstration in 2009 was no laughing matter, according to the board.

Though the chief claimed later that he was just kidding, the real undercover people, charged with providing security at the 2010 Winter Olympics, were upset.

An officer with the RCMP-led Integrated Security Unit for the Games, whose identity was blacked out in the investigative report, said the ISU was concerned by Chief Graham’s observation, worrying that it could have had “dire impacts … [on the] security/safety of personnel.”

The incident follows an earlier attempted foray into humour by Chief Graham that also backfired.

In 2006, when head of the Vancouver Police Department, Chief Graham left a bullet-riddled shooting target on the desk of then-city-manager Judy Rogers, with a handwritten note that read: “A bad day at the range is better than the best day at work.”

Ms. Rogers reported the incident to Sam Sullivan, mayor at the time, who passed the issue on to the Police Complaints Commission.

The matter was subsequently closed after the Vancouver Police Board accepted an apology from Chief Graham, who said he left the target, a silhouetted form of a human head, on Ms. Rogers’s desk as a joke.

The cop-on-a-bus joke was made by Chief Graham at an international security conference, just after anti-Olympic protesters, including many from Vancouver, briefly disrupted the first day of the Olympic torch relay in Victoria.

The chief mocked the protesters during his speech: “They were not that organized on the ferry over. They all came over on a [rented] bus. … And there was a cop drivin’ the bus.”

After reading about Chief Graham’s remarks, photographer Bruce Dean filed an official complaint, arguing that he had “disclosed the identity of an undercover officer to the general public.”

The first investigation, by RCMP Chief Superintendent Don Harrison, appeared to concentrate more on Mr. Dean’s background and possible motivation than Chief Graham’s behaviour. The complaint was dismissed.

However, the B.C. Civil Liberties Association then intervened and petitioned successfully for a second, external police probe into the incident.

This time, RCMP Chief Superintendent Rick Taylor concluded that it was inappropriate for police to comment publicly on investigative techniques, despite Chief Graham’s assertion that he had no idea whether an undercover police officer was driving the bus.

“[My] comments were intended to be humorous, to poke fun at the organizational efforts by certain protest groups. … It got laughter in the audience,” Chief Graham explained, according to Supt. Taylor’s report.

“It is the conclusion of this investigator that Chief Graham made spontaneous, unscripted, off-the-cuff remarks … without considering their impact and weight,” wrote Supt. Taylor. “The comments were highly inappropriate ... and a very poor attempt at humour on Chief Graham’s part at the expense of members of a protest group.”

The Victoria Police Board has proposed handing out a written reprimand to the chief. All parties will have a chance to respond before the board makes its final decision.

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Police collecting cabbies’ DNA in Highway of Tears probe

Published Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2011 12:50AM ESTLast updated Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2011 1:08AM EST0 comments

Police in Prince George, B.C. are collecting DNA samples from cab drivers, reportedly as part of their investigation into the dozens of murders and disappearances of women in the northern part of the province.

Since the late 1960s, more than two dozen women have been killed or have gone missing in the area, many of them along the remote stretch of Highway 16 between Prince George and Prince Rupert, which has been dubbed the Highway of Tears.

The RCMP has been investigating 18 of the cases under the name Project E-PANA.

In an effort to generate leads, police have been taking DNA samples from taxi drivers in the city, but declined to discuss the practice late Monday evening.

“There’s more to it than that,” said Corporal Craig Douglas of the local detachment. “I can’t say anything without checking with the right people – I want to make sure I’m not compromising someone’s investigation.”

A dispatcher with one cab company, who declined to give her name, said police had also been taking fingerprints from the company’s drivers.

“It’s been going on for a little while here,” she said.

Police have previously said they were looking to see if new technology in DNA analysis could generate fresh leads on the old cases.

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Husband of Belleville police chief gets 30 days for beating her in jealous rage

Published Friday, Nov. 26, 2010 1:47PM ESTLast updated Friday, Nov. 26, 2010 3:05PM EST39 comments

The husband of an eastern Ontario police chief is hoping for a reconciliation after being sentenced to 30 days Friday for beating her in a jealous rage, the man's lawyer said.

David McMullan had pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm after his wife was beaten and had her arm broken in Belleville, Ont., on Aug. 6.

In an agreed statement of fact, he said he attacked his wife, Belleville police Chief Cory McMullan, in the mistaken belief she was having an affair with the city's mayor.

Defence lawyer Dick Borris told reporters his client wanted to resolve the matter as quickly as possible.

“He's realistic about the outcome, he'll accept it and hope for reconciliation,” Mr. Borris said. “He hopes, get back to the real world.”

Crown lawyer Rob Flummerfelt was frank about the sentence.

“I'm glad to see the message being sent that if you beat your wife, you're gonna go to jail,” he said.

Court heard Mr. McMullan brutally beat his wife outside a mall and at the family's home in east-end Belleville, and that both attacks were witnessed by an off-duty RCMP officer.

Cory McMullan took the step of going public after her husband was charged.

She said while domestic assault victims are not usually identified, because of her position in the community it was important to acknowledge that she was the victim.

The mayor also went public to deny the affair.

David McMullan was also sentenced to 18 months probation with conditions, including that he not communicate with his wife without her permission.

He must also provide a DNA sample, and has been banned from owning firearms for the rest of his life.

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