Dozens of complaints filed against police
Fifty allegations of police misconduct on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside are being filed Monday with the Police Complaints Commission.
The package of complaints and affidavits being presented by the Pivot Legal Society accuses Vancouver Police of using excessive force and conducting illegal searches.
Society spokesperson John Richardson says the number of complaints should prompt a public inquiry into policing on the Downtown Eastside.
"We want to avoid a situation where the forest is mistaken for the trees. We believe these affidavits and complaints are only examples of a widespread systemic problem in the Downtown Eastside," he says.
Pivot first went public with the complaints last year.
- FROM OCT. 29, 2002: Police accused of misconduct in Downtown Eastside
The Vancouver Police Department is welcoming the move to file the complaints. Spokesperson, Const. Sarah Bloor, says having the complaints before the Commissioner will allow police to tell their side of the story.
"We haven't be able to fairly defend our position or investigate the claims that have been made," she says. "So they've been out in the public and they're repeated claims, yet we haven't ever been given the opportunity to fully investigate them."
Bloor also says a number of the complaints are from third parties people who heard about an incident but were not involved.
However, Pivot says there are very few third-party accounts, noting the majority of complaints are from the alleged victims who have decided to come forward.
