Canada needs relief from the Liberals

The Canadian Taxpayers' Federation joined with various other political activists and a few Conservatives on Parliament Hill on Saturday to protest high gas prices. Or, more accurately, to protest the oppressive taxes charged on top of high gasoline prices.

"Let's work to ensure that consumer anger becomes voter anger and that this is an issue in the next federal election," said John Williamson federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers' Federation at the rally.

Considering that taxes from all governments make up about 45% of the price of a litre of gas it seems to be a significant point that relief for consumers would best be provided if the leeches that masquerade as our federal government would back the taxes off even if only a little.

But Finance Minister Ralph Goodale threw cold water on that request when he said lowering taxes would only provide minimal relief. But the kicker is what he followed that up with when he said the money would be better used by Ottawa and poured into federal programs.

Really Ralph? Like what? Another Adscam? Perhaps an expansion of the Gun Registry?

This is exactly the attitude that underlines why this country is in the state it's in. Why we're the highest taxed country in the G8 and businesses are taxed higher here than in any country in the world save and except the Communist country of China for God's sake.

This country needs relief from the Liberals and more of their "programs."

Leo Knight

leo@primetimecrime.com

One family's tragedy underlines flawed system

Yesterday, a BC family buried their dead. Two newly-orphaned kids were brought to the church by members of the BC Ambulance Service, still in stretchers recovering from their injuries.

But tears and grief was not the only demonstrable emotion. Indeed, anger at a justice system so fundamentally flawed that a family is missing their son and daughter, two kids are missing their parents and siblings are missing their brother and sister.

On Labour Day, a Coquitlam family returning from a wedding in Calgary, was cut down in a head-on collision just east of Golden, BC. Lorene Calder, 43, and her husband Brad 47, were killed. Their kids, Natasha 15, and Justin, 12, were seriously injured in the crash.

Certainly, traffic fatalities on our highways always seem to punctuate long weekends, this tragedy was caused by a 19 year old junkie/thief in a stolen car. Dustin Carmichael, the driver of a stolen jeep who plowed into the Calder family was wanted at the time of the crash.

Carmichael was caught stealing a car in February 2004 when he was 18 years old. He was sentenced to 60 days and a year’s probation. I am not allowed to tell you about his juvenile record were I to know what it was, nor am I even allowed to confirm whether he had a juvenile record. But, considering no first time property crime offender ever goes to jail in the criminal paradise of British Columbia, I’m going to assume there was a fairly lengthy criminal history.

But, to no one’s great surprise, Carmichael committed an armed robbery while on probation. He got 14 months for that particular transgression. He then escaped from custody and got another four months tacked on.

He was also a junkie who stole to feed his habit. Crystal, crack it didn’t matter. In June he promised the parole board that he’d be a good boy and take counseling for his drug habit. They believed him and let him out ten months before his sentence was due to expire.

As was entirely predictable, Carmichael ditched his counseling before it was complete and went to ground. He was supposed to live with his grandmother on his release. Well, he neither showed there nor at his probation officer’s office. A warrant was issued for his arrest and with that, the parole system wiped its hands of an habitual thief, junkie and convicted armed robber.

Less than two weeks later, while driving a stolen Jeep, Carmichael killed the Calders, put the Calder kids in critical condition and killed himself and his girlfriend, also 19.

The tragedy here is gut-wrenching.

A spokesperson for the parole board tried to mitigate their responsibility in this by saying if they hadn’t let him out into counseling, he would have been released anyway at the two-thirds point in his sentence. True, but the Calders would still be alive and Carmichael would have eventually breached his conditions anyway.

But even that observation seems trite.

The problem is the way the system treats habitual criminals like Carmichael. True he was only 19, but his history clearly showed there was no hope for him. And minor sentences like 14 months for armed robbery let alone the original 60 days for stealing a car, continue to be as ineffective as the parole board’s hand wringing.

And probation on top of probation on top of probation for someone who has clearly demonstrated a total lack of concern for any restriction put upon him by the courts is wrong, wrong, wrong.

Brad Calder was a family man, a hard worker and a sports coach for kids in his community. He was a productive member of society. He and his wife are just the latest victims of a liberal experiment in social engineering that continues to prove its fallibility.

Will they never learn?

Leo Knight

leo@primetimecrime.com

All bluster and spin

While sipping on a Sunday morning coffee, I just about spit it out over the infernal cat when I read the Calgary Sun's "blow job" on that city's Chief Constable Jack Beaton. ( Top cop to focus on gangs)

Quite apart from anything else, it seems quite disingenous for the Calgary Sun to refer to the tumultuous tenure of Beaton given that the paper has virtually ignored the main story in its entirety for the past eight months to a year.

It's a funny thing really, a major metropolitan daily acting as though everything was fine and dandy in the city police service despite the majority of police officers expressing in a survey that they had no confidence in its management, despite a variety of criticisms against the senior management including formal complaints and civil suits filed against the chief himself.

The rest of the media in Calgary covered the bullying tactics of Beaton as he exercised extraordinary methods to silence the authors of a website critical of him. Once complete, then Beaton conducted a witch hunt to further silence people who had the unmitigated gall to email the website authors. The witch hunt even attempted to reach right into the office of the Minister of Jutice. But not the Calgary Sun.

It's extraordinary really. And now they give mere mention of the sordid chapter in a piece extolling the virtues of the Chief as Beaton finally allows there is a gang problem in that fair city. That's rich.

Calgary has had a "gang" problem for a number of years now. Ask any police officer. Indeed, ask any police officer involved in organized crime investigation in either Edmonton or Vancouver and they will tell you of the triangle of organized crime between those cities.

It' s all about drugs and it's all about the power and money that go hand in hand with drugs. To suggest, as Beaton does in the story, backhandedly, that the police will easily handle the problem is naieve in the extreme. To further claim that they will do it as they handled the Hells Angels is frighteningly ridiculous.

The Calgary Police Service merely won a battle in a much larger war against organized crime and the Hells Angels when they successfully concluded an investigation that resulted in the arrest of a few patches. The city expropriated their clubhouse and forced its relocation. That is all.

The war against organized crime is being fought on many fronts by many brave men and women. The gang problems that arise in all cities is merely a by-product of the bigger war. It needs to be recognized and fought properly and never trivialized.

I take no issue with elements within the media that want to support law enforcement. No one in the media defends the police more than yours truly. But, to ignore significant and substantial criticism in favor of lobbing softballs at a problem that grows daily is merely playing sap to the problem itself.

Leo Knight

leo@primetimecrime.com

Fighting back against the Hells Angels

Friday's raids on properties belonging to the Hells Angels East End chapter were a welcome shot across the bow of the outlaw biker gang.

Well, welcome for most honest law-abiding citizens I should say.

I listened this morning to Vancouver Chapter member Rick Ciarnello flapping his gums on CKNW on the Peter Warren show. For the most part he got a shellacking from callers only to have the blustery biker call them "stupid" for calling it as they saw it.

But Ciarnello, for all his propaganda, did make a good point when he refused to equate his club members with members of the federal Liberal party. The Libs are currently embroiled in the Sponsorship scandal that clearly defines the systemic corruption that has come to epitomize the Liberal Party of Canada.

Smart on his part I suppose. Despite the hundreds of murders attributed to the Hells Angels in this country, not to mention the arrests in chapters across the country, any suggestion that the Hells Angels were somehow comparable to the federal Liberals was somehow beneath him.

The day after the search warrants were executed we were treated to the vision of long-time East End member John Peter Bryce wailing and whining about the fact the police hit the clubhouse hard, using big tools to open the metal reinforced doors. Bryce whined that there were people there who would have opened the door if asked.

Well, whatever. The Hells Angels use hang-arounds, puppet gangs and prospects to provide security for the clubhouses. The chances of a wannabe allowing voluntary entry to a police officer knocking on the door asking "by your leave", into a clubhouse are somewhere between slim and bugger all.

But we'll allow Bryce his make-believe world. But I suppose he has to play "let's pretend", after all, one of the individuals caught in the latest police dragnet was his own son. It would seem the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.

But at the end of the day, Bryce's bleatings are just that. The Hells Angels, as an entity, may not be a criminal organization as a whole. In fact, the outlaw motorcycle gang operates in a cellular structure with individual members running their own "business" and using their gang status as their ultimate weapon of intimidation to ensure their "business" is successful.

But much of that may be little more than semantics. The police in BC have served notice in this investigation that the bikers do not have immunity from the law. They also said in their actions, that they will not be intimidated. That was their message to John Peter Bryce and his brother members when they smashed their way into their fortified clubhouse.

Leo Knight

leo@primetimecrime.com

In a world gone mad

As I watched events unfold in the UK this past week, I couldn't shake the feeling the world has truly gone mad.

In Gleneagles at the G8 conference, events pretty much unfolded as predicted in last week's entry. The anarchists, waited for what they perceived as the right time and attacked the police lines.

The police, ready as ever, repelled the assault and made a couple of hundred arrests over the course of three days.

The media consistently referred to the anarchists and mayhem-makers as 'protesters.' They are nothing of the kind. Sir Bob Geldof called for a day of protest. Many thousands answered the call, lending their voice and their presence in support for the cause. They are protestors.

People who hide behind balaclavas, armed with tire irons, bottles, rocks and petrol bombs are not protestors. They are thugs and need to be treated as such, especially by the media who seem to think they are the victims.

As it was all unfolding according to script, the unthinkable happened in London. A series of bomb blasts turned the city into absolute chaos, shutting down the transit system and leaving 55 dead and hundreds wounded.

The world was horrified. Well, except for the followers of radical Islam and quite likely the anarchists who were arrested in the violence at Gleneagles. They of course will blame Tony Blair for blindly following Bush into Iraq and whatever other nonsense their moribund brains come up with.

There seems little doubt that al Qaeda factions were responsible. There is also little doubt the blasts were designed to cause maximum terror and maximum commotion especially when the bulk of the country's security apparatus was busy in Gleneagles with the G8.

This type of attack may be all that's left to them. In the post 9/11 world, security, especially on the North American continent has been substantially improved. What Mohammed Atta and his cohorts were able to achieve that horrible day is very unlikely, if not impossible in today's world.

US and coalition forces as well as security forces from around the world have captured or killed many of the leaders of al Qaeda. The primary battle front in the War on Terror is in Iraq. But that doesn't mean the enemy has no ability to bring the fight to other countries. The events of this week clearly show that the enemy, though wounded, is still very, very dangerous to Western civilization.

We, in the west, including Canada, are at war. We have been since the fall of 2001. The enemy are the believers in radical Islam. They can attack anywhere, anytime. And they will remain dangerous until they either give up, which is unlikely, or are eradicated as a threat.

For some reason our politicians seem to think that same sex marriage was the most important issue facing the country this summer. And they have managed to lead the lapdog media into believing that too. To accept that, as they have done, shows how delusional they really are in this mad world.

We in Canada, have yet to experience a terror attack on our shores. But it will happen sooner or later. That seems as inevitable as the sun coming up tomorrow or Paul Martin lying to suit his position of the day.

Martin and his Liberals are governing during a time of war. The first and primary duty of any government is to protect its citizenry. We have seen no sign of that from them as they chirp and harp about the right of gay people to marry.

If governing is all about priorities, in this world gone mad, it is hard to believe - nay, conceive even - that our government cannot see the how badly they are failing in their duty.

Leo Knight

leo@primetimecrime.com

A long, hot summer

Sorry I haven't posted for a while, but I have just returned from a most welcome respite golfing the fine tracks in the Okanagan. But the nose is firmly back on the grindstone now.

I couldn't help but notice the news today that the black-clothed buttheads have resurfaced in Edinburgh and wasted little time in attacking the police deployed in the annual charade that surrounds the G8 meetings.

Wait for it. Today's clashes were only the beginning. Gleneagles is, unfourtunately a little too close to civilization to be holding the annual meeting of the leaders of the free world.

This has become an all too frequent event and the accompanying riots are too much to take. And watch as the mainstream media refer to the anarchist buttheads as "protestors" as though they were there to actually there to do anything but attack the police and then whine like petulant children when they get what they were asking for - a proper ass kicking.

Remember Svend in Quebec City? "Waaaaahhhhh . . . a rubber bullet put a hole in my pants!"

Now, don't misunderstand me, I don't give a fig when they get their ass kicked nor do I care that they get it at all. What I do care about are the cops on the front lines who have to exercise all possible restraint as these perfectly good examples of oxygen wastage plan their mayhem while the media plays along instead of calling it what it really is.

From the petrol bombs, the tire irons, the rocks and bottles, the cops are going to see it all. And when they take action you will listen to the poor "protestors" whine and whimper about the brutality exercised by the men and women paid to protect society. And the media will eat it up.

Oh yes, I've seen it all before. . . APEC, Seattle, Quebec City, Genoa. The story is always the same. Only the locations change. When it didn't happen was at Kannaskis. It was too remote with security controlling the access so that the buttheads would have had to befriend a grizzly bear to get near. The attempts that were made in Calgary were thwarted by the excellent efforts of the Calgary Police Service to, literally, cut 'em off at the pass every time a stunt was attempted.

Oh yeah, and there was the meeting in China where none of the buttheads showed up because there, they would have really met with treatment unlike anything they now claim as police brutality.

Leo Knight
leo@primetimecrime.com

The freedom to know

It's high time our courts got rid of the ludicrous publication bans that are preventing Canadians from know what is going on in our names.

As proven in the Gomery Commission hearings, the media has changed and information has a way of getting out regardless of what the starched shirts want to see happen. The news is no longer disseminated on broadsheet pages. It's digital, it's fast and it's everywhere. Information is king and efforts to slow or stop the flow are doomed to fail.

And so what? Our courts have traditionally tried to contain information within the four walls of the courtroom on the basis of ensuring the accused gets a fair trial and the public's mind is free of any information which might bias their way of thinking.

But, can that argument really be made with any credibility any more? Look at the Michael Jackson case for the best argument that refutes the court's position. Jacko may be whacko, but despite all the publicity he wasn't found guilty.

I can't imagine how there could have been any more publicity about that case both before and after the trial started. The web site The Smoking Gun even managed to get documents posted that the mainstream media had tried and failed to obtain. Anyone on the planet could have found out all the evidence including the details of the previous settlement with the other boy long before the first jurror was picked. Yet, the system worked as it was designed to do and a jury rendered its verdict.

Can anyone say that his rights were abused by the phalanx of publicity? Hardly.

It's long past time the antiquated and moribund justice system in Canada allowed itself to join the rest of the world in the new millenium. A good start would be in the Pickton case. The trial against the accused serial killer is soon to start and the arguments about the publication bans are taking too much time and costing everyone too much money. Most especially the taxpayer.

The media will cover the case. The Blogosphere will report on the facts and rumours. But, at the end of the day, 12 people will responsibly do their duty no matter what has been said, broadcast or reported.

Leo Knight
leo@primetimecrime.com

Standing up for what is right

The media have adopted the Police Complaints Commissioner's report (Blue Curtain: VPD has fostered 'culture of resistance' -- critics) as their new cause clebre. Unfortunately, Vancouver Police Constable Jamie Graham has yet to come out and call it for what it is - a hysterical piece of nonsense. So, I will.


For whatever reason, the Vancouver media seem to think the so-called Pivot Legal Society has a shred of credibility. They don't. The fifty or so wild allegations made by them have been roundly and soundly refuted by numerous police investigations including the investigation by the RCMP that the commissioner, Dirk Ryneveld, uses as the basis for his accusations.


In reality, the RCMP investigation report said it had a problem with nine of the complaints in that there were procedural issues and a possibility of a lack of co-operation on the behalf of some VPD members, not that any of the complaints were substianted. That was it. And that seems to be what has Ryneveld in high dudgeon. And I say "so what?"


Right from the get go, it was obvious the Pivot accusations of kidnapping and torture were so much hyperbole that no thinking person should have taken them seriously. But the media did and for whatever reason, apparently still do.


The Vancvouver Sun in its story linked above, takes great pains to regurgitate cases that have already been resolved and judged appropriate behaviour such as the so-called 'Riot at the Hyatt' and the Jeff Berg case. Were they so short on real material that they had to raise the illusion of scandal by lumping those cases in?


At the Hyatt, a crowd of activists attacked police lines and tried to break through into the Hyatt where then- Prime Minister Jean Chretien was speaking. The police resisted and held their lines. In the process a couple of the attackers got smacked as they were attacking the police. Not hard enough in my opinion.


In the Jeff Berg case, everyone glosses over the fact that he and his buddies had just committed a home invasion and Berg refused the orders of police constable David Bruce-Thomas who tried to arrest the gang at gunpoint. Berg attacked Bruce-Thomas and lost the fight. In the struggle, Berg took a blow to the neck that he later died from in hospital. Boo-hoo. But Bruce-Thomas did absolutely nothing wrong and was vindicated at every legal turn Berg's sister could throw at him.


And yet, somehow these small handful of concerns have got everyone in the media (and Ryneveld) thinking there are systemic problems. Talk about hysteria.


In 2003, for example, the VPD had 558,182 reported incidents. A similar number occurs each and every year. And through all of those, a mere handful are deemed to have been handled inappropriately. There are more problems and errors with every issue of every newspaper in this country.


Are the police perfect? Hardly. Are you?


The police do a tough enough job when we just look at the normal day to day stuff. Factor in the cesspit that is the Downtown Eastside and the job is nigh on impossible. Every day, every shift, the cops there are abused, spit on, assaulted, insulted and offended. Yet, for the most part they hold their temper and do their job professionally and appropriately.


Fifteen years ago, when I walked those streets, it was bad enough. I couldn't even begin to count the number of times I had to fight violent, abusive people. Down there, you have to prove you're tough or you cannot do your job. It's not as sterile as the boardrooms of various news organizations. Down there it is reality. I salute the cops who still do it day in and day out.


The critics need to remove their rose coloured glasses and close their personal agendas. And the Chief needs to come out and say that.


Leo Knight
leo@primetimecrime.com

Talkin' Shop

Interesting to see that the Chiefs are meeting in Calgary at their annual knees-up and bun toss hosted this year by Jack Beaton. Even more interesting is the CBC story headlined on Prime Time Crime saying a significant topic of discussion will be how to stay out of trouble. ( Police chiefs meet to talk controversy)

Considering the morass Calgary Chief Beaton has immersed himself in this last year or so, one hopes he attends all the seminars and pays special attention to the speakers. But, in the event he dosen't, allow me to provide some free advice.

If a bunch of serving members file lawsuits against another, senior police officer alleging fraud and other criminal offences, take it seriously, investigate the matter thoroughly and in the interest of protecting the police department's public image, place the officer under the cloud of suspicion on suspension until the matter has been dealt with and the officer has either cleared his or her name or the matter has been proven.

This simple piece of advice also extends to other allegations like racism practiced by senior officers to subordinate staff. Or, for example, if another senior officer points a gun at a subordinate officer, don't try and sweep the incident under a rug.

I know this sounds basic, but Beaton's history in the top chair seems to have missed some of these more rudimentary points.

Oh yeah, there's another simple way of keeping out of harm's way for a senior police manager - tell the truth. I know, I know, pretty simple stuff. But you'd be amazed how often this simple rule of thumb seems to be foreign to certain members of the police establishment attending this conference.

The media, in whatever form, is not to be feared any more than the truth itself. Every organization, regardless, has its problem child or children. The law of averages is what it is. When a bad apple is discovered in the barrel, acknowledge it. Deal with him or her fairly and appropriately and then tell the public what you have done. You'd be surprised how supportive the public would be if you treated them like intelligent people.

The police do not need spin doctors. Doing the job of protecting the public speaks for itself. Every police officer subjects his or her self to danger every shift and their actions don't need to be spun. Equally, if a rogue officer screws up, explain the facts and show the public what you have done to rectify the situation, discipline the transgressor and take steps to ensure there is no repeat performance.

The cops at the sharp end of things need to be supported in any senior manager's actions, discussions and decisions. Protecting the bad apples and supporting the carpet cops is not the way to earn the loyalty of the street cops who do the hard work day in and day out.

Being a leader in a police service is all about being everyone's Chief, not feathering the nest of one's cronies. It's about being fair. It's about working hard, day in and day out to make your city a better place and to support the cops who will walk into hell to make the city a safer place.

As with any high profile public position, the Chief will have supporters and detractors. But, the job is about rising above the fray and doing one's best to fulfill the obligations to one's oath of office.

Oddly enough, if, as a chief or other senior police manager, you follow these simple steps, you do not need to hold conferences to discuss ways to keep the mud off your shoes. You manage properly not to walk in it.

Leo Knight

leo@primetimecrime.com

Plus ca change

"Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first." - Ronald Reagan

Like many of you I was glued to a TV during the vote in the House of Commons today to see if it might actually be possible to topple the most corrupt government this country has ever seen. And, just for the record, I include the BC NDP Glen Clark government in the '90s, in the analysis prior to making that statement.

But, at the end of the day, the Prime Minister Paul Martin suceeded, after doing everything in his Faustian gymnastics to cling to the reins of power. And I, like many of you, had to work to stifle the gag reflex as I watched Chuck Cadman do the unthinkable.

Now, let me say at this point that I have a tremendous amount of respect for Chuck Cadman. And, I don't say for a moment that he succumbed to any amount of bribing from the desparate Liberals. But, I cannot, for the life of me, understand why he turned his back on doing the right thing for this country.

At least Cadman can claim the higher ground in doing what he did by claiming he followed the wishes of his constituents. It is not the case for the rest involved in the travesty foisted upon this country.

Whether we are talking about the shameless budget change to the tune of over $4 billion to buy the affections of NDP Leader Jack Layton, or the office of a cabinet minister to purchase the services of the latter day Mata Hari, Belinda Stronach, the actions are clear. Paul Martin, would do anything, pay any price, to hang on to the power afforded to him in the office of the Prime Minister.

So why is it that the politically deluded seem to think it is Stephan Harper who is power hungry?

Equally, how is it that the mainstream media have portrayed Harper as making a "deal with the devil" in siding with the Bloc Quebecois in voting against the systemic corruption and theft of taxpayers dollars? Not utilizing the Bloc's 54 seats to try and stop the insanity of the Liberal corrupt chokehold on this nation is not climbing into bed with the separatists as has been painted by the Liberal spinners, but is nothing more than the reality of the Opposition trying to rid this nation of a cancer. To not consider the option would mean the Liberals might as well have the majority this country would not give them.

Unfortunately they failed. And the thieves will continue to have their hands in our wallets as they steal our money and waste it on ridiculous socialist causes or funnel it through to Special Interest Groups that achieve nothing more than having their constituents give over their vote in return for Liberal lolly.

On the same day as this travesty in faux democracy played out in Ottawa, Her Majesty the Queen, was paying tribute to the four Mounties who made the ultimate sacrifice in Mayerthorpe last March, doing their job in service to this country.

Belinda Stronach claims she jumped into bed with the thieving Liberals out of a sense of duty for her country. She doesn't have a clue. Have another read of the quote from Ronald Reagan at the top of this to understand what she was actually doing.

She collected her lolly as the newly-minted minister responsible for HRDC, and ironically, for the ethical monitoring of activities following the Gomery report.

I am truly disgusted by the lot of them.

Leo Knight

leo@primetimecrime.com

Another good cop held down

You're kidding me! What, is the Winnipeg Chief Constable taking lessons from Calgary's Jack Beaton? The story headlined on Prime Time Crime about the Staff Sergeant going from hero to zero for not telling some biker schmuck that some other schmuck said someone wanted him dead is another example of an out of touch chief making what appears to be a knee-jerk decision to avoid criticism and instead inviting more. Unfortunately, he seems to have hurt a good cop in the process.

Does Jack Ewatski actually expect that every time a cop hears some asshole in custody blows his mouth off about so and so "is a marked man" or "he's gonna get it" or whatever nonsense comes out of their flapping gums, that the investigator has to go running to the guy and tell him what the jagoff said? Give me a break.

What's with chiefs named Jack?

Quite apart from anything else, bikers, wannabee gangsters, wiseguys and pretty much anyone else involved in organized crime knows that somebody wants to kill them and pretty much, sooner or later, someone will. Or they spend they waning days in jail. It goes with the territory. And frankly, society doesn't miss them when they get whacked from this mortal coil.

So, why destroy a good cop's career over something like this? Unless there's a lot more than meets the eye in what has been published in the media on this file, the Winnipeg Chief is doing a disservice to not only the member involved, but to the citizens of the community he serves.

And for what?

Leo Knight

leo@primetimecrime.com

The bath is getting crowded

Well, as witch hunts go, Calgary Chief Jack Beaton certainly doesn't hold back. The story headlined on Prime Time Crime's front page today, Chief won't give up the hunt demonstrates just how out of control he is.

Is it possible he does not realize that by his actions he is proving the Standfirm group were accurate in their assessment? They talked about bullying and retribution and failing to adhere to the Core Principles espoused, but apparently not practiced by this chief.

I was in Calgary yesterday and had to covertly meet with a couple of Calgary cops. They described a climate of fear pervading the department. Members are trying to burn off lieu time hours, taking days off, calling in sick, leaving early and generally doing anything to avoid the Beaton freight train. Said one officer, "Paranoia is running rampant in HQ with many trying to avoid the Chief and his deputies at all costs. "

And it didn't stop there. "The climate of fear and terror in CPS is enormous. I've never seen anything like it in my life!" And why? Because Beaton can't take criticism that certainly appears to have been well-founded. And, he is proving every day just how accurate that criticism was.

And what's with the President of the Calgary Police Association? Let's take a look at the quote attributed to him in the Global stoy. Here's the quote:

"There appeared to be about 15 people that were regular contributors," says Koenig. "Now, 15 people out of 2,200 employees is a pretty small amount and they were the same complaints from the same people. If we were to see a couple of hundred different names on there, then there would be cause for concern but at this point it does seem to be a rather small group."

Well, in the first place, I would wonder how he knows there are only 15 people involved. Certainly, that number has never been discussed in any other forum. Inside information perhaps? And what does he mean when he says if there were a couple of hundred it would be a different matter? He had well over 400 responses to his own survey last summer that showed 70 per cent had lost confidence in the chief and senior management.

I think it is also interesting that any police association is prepared to stand by when senior management are conducting a witch hunt and apparently, is prepared to say 15 members are not a cause for concern. It's a bloody great concern and Koenig should be roasted by the membership for his malfeasance in not standing up to this bullying style of management. Or perhaps I should say cooperation. For it certainly looks to me like he has rolled over and allowed Beaton to scratch his belly like an old hound dog.

As an aside, where has the Calgary Sun been in all of this? To the best of my knowledge they have barely noticed this story. Why? Every other member of the mainstream media has covered the story and the Calgary Herald, A Channel and CBC have even committed their lawyers to getting the files unsealed. What happened to the Sun's duty to the good citizens of Calgary? Or are they drinking the same bathwater as Beaton and Koenig?

Just asking.

Leo Knight

leo@primetimecrime.com

What's up Jack?

"A real leader faces the music even when he doesn't like the tune."
- Anon.

I really don't get it.

Calgary's Chief Constable, Jack Beaton, has acted like a petulant schoolboy right from square one in his dogged pursuit of those behind the websites critical of his administration. And even in his hollow victory first announced in this space on Friday, when his pressure tactics finally caused webmistress Jann Vahey to capitulate and make a deal to get out from underneath the potential financial ruin a battle against City Hall might necessitate, he issued a press release saying he wasn't done yet. The witchhunt apparently, is far from over.

In the intervening days, a police constable, Taufiq Shah, has come forward and admitted that he delivered the offending criticisms published by Vahey and in doing so, painted a huge target on his back for a vindictive Chief.

Shah has filed previous complaints against a patrol Sergeant and the Chief for failing to appropriately investigate the matter. He has been on stress leave for far too long as a result. He doesn't want to be, but what choice does he have?

He was subject to racist taunts, called things like "terrorist" and "sand nigger." He even had a service weapon pointed directly at him by a superior officer, I'm told, in the parade room of the station. One hardly wonders why he might not feel entirely comfortable with strapping on a nine mil and going through a door hoping his sergeant has his back.

Shah has a Muslim name and he is brown skinned. But, in reality he is a Morman and travels annually to Utah, to Salt Lake, where the tabernacle of his religion sits. He is a family man, married to the fiercely defensive Rhonda. They have four kids. He worked in patrol and just wanted to do a good job protecting the citizens of his city and providing for his family.

Shah was pronounced fit for duty after being on disability. He tried to go back, but the Service insisted he see the department counselling service who immediately said he wasn't fit for a full return to duty. He was going to regular counselling to deal with the stresses and threats he felt.

Today, according to a police officer I spoke with, one day after he came out publicly, Shah went to his regular counselling session and was sent home.

This is how Jack Beaton defends the hard-working men and women who toil in the mean streets protecting the citizens? Which, I might add, would seem diametrically opposed to the stated "Core Values" of the service itself. But that is all just semantics I suppose.

The real battle now that Shah has clambored out of the closet of fear, comes from Beaton continuing to try and identify the other officers who also contributed to the information pool that Shah wove into the editorial content posted on the internet that drew Beaton's rage. And, so too, I suspect, the four officers who were interviewed by CBC's Rick Boguski in shadow and with their voices altered.

Beaton said he wasn't done in the wake of the Vahey settlement revelations. Shah stood up in front of the assembled media and said, "Enough."

But I fear nothing but full retribution, not "healing" will be enough for Beaton. For whatever his public personnae has been thus far in his reign, the good citizens of Calgary "don't know Jack."

Leo Knight

leo@primetimecrime.com

Comments

I do apologize folks, but some anti-cop jerk who had plagued the previous Forum has reared his ugly and stupid head again. Ergo, I had to delete the comments on the "A deal done" post. For those of you who had well-thought comments to add, I apologize. If the cop hater continues to intrude on this site, he can expect a harassment complaint filed with the police and a subsequent lawsuit. He knows I know who he is. There are any number of websites and boards that are run by the sort of people who share his views. This is not one of them.

Leo Knight
leo@primetimecrime.com

A deal done

Today StandFirm webmistress Jann Vahey signed off on a negotiated deal to end the civil action taken against her by Calgary police chief Jack Beaton. Essentially, she signed a letter apologizing the the members of the Calgary Police Service if anything said on the original Stand Firm website offended anyone.

Later this afternoon, media lawyers successfully argued the case for unsealing the Anton Piller order and related documents. The "gag" order on Vahey has also been lifted and she is now able to speak to the media. I have also learned that she will be seeking further investigation into the allegations of racism, cronyism and other matters she had been airing on the internet. Vahey is also seeking an audience with Alberta Solicitor General Harvey Cenaiko with a view, she says, to generating interest in a public inquiry.

Vahey says she was pressured into signing the deal because there was a fixed time line to have the deal done of noon today, two hours before the hearing began to unseal the file. She may call it pressured, but to me it sounds a little more like blackmail. Any "do this or else" has that connotation.

And in the end it was the "or else" that forced Vahey's to acquiesce. She could have fought the chief and his ham-fisted ways but the legal bill to do so would have forced her into the poor house. No such bother for Beaton though, not with the good citizens of Calgary funding his vendetta.

Not opened by the courts though were the affidavits illustrating the investigative process utilized by Beaton and his bully-boy tactics. Why, is an interesting question.

It could be because Beaton needs to conceal the methods employed to "out" Vahey because they may have been questionable. It leaves us to wonder if the resources of the police were at any time used in this civil matter or indeed, if any illegal methods were used to identify Vahey. We don't know, for example, if any private communications were intercepted.

According to one reporter present at the hearings one of the reasons is because there are further Anton Piller orders being contemplated. Really!

If true, look for some cops to get unwelcome knocks at their doors. So too, according to one source, a prominent member of the broadcast media who interviewed four officers in shadow in a CBC news report. Evidently, the shadow may not have been enough to protect those men from the vendetta-driven chief.

The agreement may have been signed off by Vahey and Beaton, but the witch hunt is far from over it seems.

A real leader would recognize there are problems and morale issues. A real leader would immediately start a process to heal the divisions and fix the problems. A real leader would engage all the stakeholders in the process and get buy-in from all affected parties. But, that's what a real leader would do.

I'll leave you to decide if engaging in a vendetta against critics by a man in a high public office is an example of a real leader.

Leo Knight
leo@primetimecrime.com

Using a sledgehammer to swat a Gnat

With the gag orders in place it is hard to get any information on what is happening with the outrageous action by Chief Jack Beaton in searching and seizing a computer from Jann Vahey who ran a website critical of his management.

Even normally loquaicious lawyers are behaving like Trappist monks.

However, if one diligently keeps one's ear to the ground, it is usually possible to at least get a glimpse into the situation. It is after all, a police department and cops do like to talk.

With the pressure from the media heating up, including a lead editorial in the National Post headlined Calgary's Strongman, my sources tell me a move is afoot from within the Police Commission to get Jack to put this matter to bed. And promptly too, I'm told. The black eye the Service is getting arising from this sordid affair, is getting darker with each media hit.

Negotiations are apparently ongoing, with Beaton pushing for a quick closure and admission of wrongdoing by way of an apology to the Service at large. Considering Vahey was defending the Police Service from the ham-fisted management of Beaton, that is rich indeed. I also believe, though I can't get anyone to confirm it with all the respective gag orders in place, that Beaton has demanded Vahey appear before a select group of police officers and answer their questions.

If I were Vahey, I sure as hell wouldn't do it. A bunch of Beaton sycophants would no doubt be assembled who would then grill Vahey on the identity of any serving police officer who may have helped her or emailed support comments to her. The expression 'Star Chamber' comes to mind.

No, instead, if Beaton had a shred of respect for the Service he claims to be protecting, he would offer any officer who wishes to attend such a session, the opportunity to show up and participate. I suspect Vahey and her lawyers would jump at that chance to settle this then. But that wouldn't serve Beaton well now would it? He might actually have to listen to the very police officers who have lost all confidence in his leadership and spawned the original website critical of him at the outset.

Equally, he would also invite members of the media to demonstrate that he is actually doing something positive and cathartic instead of destructive and vengeful. But then, that would actually take a real leader and Beaton has clearly demonstrated with his actions in this that he has precious few real leadership qualities.

Beaton has also been taking heat from the media for using public money to fund his witchhunt. I'm betting his next move will be to claim he will recover any and all public money, including that paid to his old pal Bruce Dunn to "investigate" this matter. Here comes that sledge hammer to swat at that nasty gnat again.

My sources in the department also tell me that the guys are all walking on egg shells, while trying to keep their heads down to avoid the withhunt being conducted. Meanwhile, media lawyers are getting their heads and cases together to get the order sealing the application for the Anton Piller order lifted. Other media outlets are taking steps to protect their source information and identities as the witchhunt inevitably spreads from inside the department, out.

This sordid mess isn't getting any better as it ages.

Leo Knight

leo@primetimecrime.com

And on it goes

In the days since I first reported on the Calgary Chief Constable's outrageous use of the civil courts to stifle criticism of his administration, the mainstream media seem to have gotten the whiff of scandal in their nose.

Broadcast media stories have appeared on Calgary's A Channel and CBC as well as the CBC National has picked it up. Conspicuous in their absence on this story is the Calgary Sun and Global TV.

In the interim, the Chief has come out of hiding and given an interview to CBC's Rick Boguski in which he said he was just trying to protect the morale of the police service.

Really? If that was his aim, then why won't he lift the stifling traffic ticket quota of 20 "stats" per month off the patrol division? Because I can tell you that one thing has got the rank and file perpetually angry at the management of the CPS. But that is such a small thing really. Unless of course, you are on the receiving end of a cheap ticket issued so a patrol officer doesn't get "negative attention" from his supervisor.

But there's so much more affecting morale in the Calgary Police Service that using that as the driving factor for attacking the publisher of a website critical of the Chief is laughable.

This whole sordid chapter in the history of the once-proud force would be laughable were it not such a serious breach of the fundamental freedom of speech inherent in any democracy. But this Chief would trample that right and he must be stopped. And that is no laughing matter.

Tomorrow, lawyers for various media outlets will be making application to the courts to have the offensive order sealing the civil documents lifted. Let's hope the courts have more sense in hearing that application than the judge who actually enabled Chief Jack Beaton to make mince meat of the Charter.

-Leo Knight

Doing what is right

As the Gomery Inquiry uncovers layer after layer of Liberal dirt and it becomes clearer to every Canadian that the word corruption is synonymous with the name of the "Natural Ruling Party," we need to understand there are a couple of other areas of abuse at play in our country also worthy of our attention.

Not the least of which is taking place in Calgary as the Police Chief, Jack Beaton has outdone old Uncle Joe in ensuring voices of criticism are muted. The story from the Calgary Herald on Saturday, featured on the front page of Prime Time Crime, tells how the chief dusted off a seldom used civil court ploy, called an Anton Piller order, to search the private home of the woman believed to be behind two websites critical of him and his administration.

(I will be writing on this subject in a column to be published tomorrow.)

Beaton is doing everything in his power to not only mute the criticism, but, in my view is embarking on a witch hunt to ferret out those members of the Calgary Police who dared cooperate with the webmistress or indeed, ever had any email communication with her or the site.

Rank and file members of the Police Service in that city have long been critical of things like the favoritism shown "certain" members, or the shading of incidents like a police car being fire-bombed by a jealous ex-lover of the officer's mistress, a Sergeant pointing a service weapon at a junior constable as a "joke" and a myriad of other embarrassing events. But more to the point, there were allegations of cover-up involving a substantial fraud perpetrated on members of the service by another, senior officer. (See Police Held to a Higher Standard)

The RCMP were called in to investigate after an internal investigation failed to turn up enough evidence for a criminal charge which has since been filed.

The court order in the website case has been sealed and the webmistress gagged by order on application by Beaton. This ensures no scrutiny is placed upon the Chief's office in this sordid mess. And that is very wrong.

On April 18th in Ottawa, the Federal Court will hear the case of former RCMP Cpl. Robert Read in his latest effort at clearing his name after he was fired by the RCMP for 'Disgraceful Conduct.' His sin? He went to the media to raise allegations of corruption at the High Commission in Hong Kong after the senior members of the RCMP refused to listen to him and, as well did officials in the Department of Justice.

For those who have been following the Gomery Inquiry, it will come as no surprise that the allegations of corruption involved the government of Jean Chretien.

Read was ordered reinstated by the External Review Committee of the RCMP. The Force for its part, refused. Read will take his appeal of the decision not to reinstate him to the Federal Court.

Leo Knight

More stupidity from the Bench

The story out of Edmonton about the Queen's Court Justice Lawrie Smith dismissing a case against a scumbag, sorry, alleged scumbag, because the cop was "following his hunch" is outrageous.

Smith said, "Rather than use his head to honour the laws of this country, he (the officer) chose to follow his hunch." Let's see, the scumbag, sorry, alleged scumbag, is known to police as a gangbanger and dope dealer; he wasn't wearing a seatbelt so the officer used this as his reasonable grounds to stop the vehicle; the scumbag, sorry, alleged scumbag, couldn't speak properly because he had something jammed in his cheek; there were three other scumbags in the car with him. So, the cop investigated further and go figure, it turned out the scumbag, sorry, alleged scumbag, had eight spicballs secreted in his mouth. Surprise!

Gee, what a lucky hunch! Oh yeah, did I mention he was also known to police as a gangbanger and at the time of his arrest he had a handgun on him. Surprise! Hey, good hunch officer!

What nonsense. The cop was using the law to give him grounds to make the stop. He then found other grounds to make a search just as the law requires. Once done, he found what he knew he would all the while because the guy's a scumbag - sorry, sorry, alleged scumbag.

It's called good police work. Something this Judge, apparently, wouldn't recognize if it jumped up and bit her pampered posterior.

Leo Knight

More needless death

Another man is dead because of a couple of habitual car thieves. When do you suppose, will the politicians in power in Ottawa finally understand that something needs to be done?

How many innocent people need to die before the lib-left finally figure out that habitual criminals need to be jailed not coddled.

If the tragedy at Mayerthorp wasn't the impetus for change, what pray tell me, will be? But the outrage after that seems to have died down and like the story out of Richmond, BC today shows, more people are dying at the hands of people the justice system could have, and should have, dealt with.

Leo Knight