Cop’s sentencing tough

JUSTICE, as it is
administered i in this
province, is a rare com-
modity these days. The
" system is screwed up
badly and all too often
it is the victim who pays
the price and is ignored
by those responsible for
the administration of
the system.

Ata time when it seems
nigh on impossible to get a
habitual criminal to even sce
the inside of a jail cell, a focal
mouatic has had che full force
of the fovw fall on him, and for.
the most incredible of reasons,

Our story starts in the
summer of 1995 when
Coquitlam mountic, Real
Vailee, was working on uni-
form patrol duty with a sum-

. mer student on a job experi-
ence program. Const. Vallee
had just arrested an individual
and was heading back to the
station when he diverted to a
break-in “in progress” call.

. On arrival, vo so-called
“young offenders” were taken
into custedy inside the house.
Vallee had to send the summer
student back to the police car
to get an extra set of handcuffs
to secure the suspects.

Later at the detachment,
the suspect, a 14-year-old with
a history for such things as

‘mailbox

crime and
a) punishment

break and entry, theft and rob-
bery with a weapon, com-
plained his face was hurt.

Paramedics were called and
recommended he be taken to
hospital for an examination.

Vallee says on the way there
the suspect told him he had
run into a wall when he was
trying to get away from the
police. The teenager later said
it was Vallee who had thrown
him into a wall while hand-
cuffed.

The summer student, Dar
Dhillon, now a Vancouver
police officer, said he had not
seen Vallee or any other police
officer throw the kid into the
wall. Given the fact it was
Dhillon who had to go and
get the handcuffs and that was
the only time Vallce was alone
with the suspect in the house
where the alleged assault is
said to have occurred, you'd
almost think that would be the
end of the matter.

Not so.

The crook had a fractured

Ferries running in the dark

Editor:

- The proper management of

¢ B.C. Ferry Corporation is a
tucial: factor in the perfor-
ance of B.C.’s economy. Yet
1¢ corporation and the NDP
overmmient choose to “run the

‘ferries in the dark.”

those aspects of the corporation
that affect the cost of travel of
ngers.

pisHeedoes fot, however, want
a public review of such impor-
tant factors as investment in
capital or the price of a ferry
ticket on specific routes.

The history of B.C. is
replete with disasters when
decisions were taken without

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sinus on the left side of his
face. When he was released
from jail and returned to the
gentle custody of his father, he
said it was Vallee who had
fractured his check.

A complaint was filed with
the RCMP and was promptly
investigated by Corp. Mike
Connor of the Coquitlam
Serious Crime Section.

The co-accused in the
break-in didn’t know anything
about the “wall incident”
when he was interviewed by
Connor. The summer student
was very straight forward. He
barely knew Vallee and had no
axe to grind for cither side. No
other police officer saw any
incident at the residence which
could corroborate the little
nose picker’s story.

Connor wrote up the file
and forwarded it to regional
Crown counsel according to
policy, expecting nothing more
would come from it.

Not i in this day and age,
rm

Constable Vallee was
charged with assault causing
bodily harm. An ad hoc prose-
cutor was brought in to keep
the case at arm’s length from
the prosecutors Vallee deals
with on a regular basis when
he is trying, in vain, to get the
real criminals off the strect.
The AG even brought in a
judge from somewhere on
Vancouver Island to hear the

proper public input. A conspic-
uous example is the white cle-
phant on 12th Avenue in
Vancouver, namely Vancouver
Hospital.
this structure was built
without proper consideration of
demand for its services, operat-
ing costs, or availability of work-
ing capital from the provincial

The two guys arrested in
the house that wasn’t theirs,
both pled guilty to the out-
standing charges and got the
usual Young Offender sen-
tence — bugger all.

After almost three years
since the break-in occurred,
Const. Vallee was tried and
found guilty of assault causing
bodily harm by Judge Robert
Graham and sentenced to —
wait for it — three months in
jail!

Vallee has been an exem-
plary police officer. He is a for-
mer member of the Armed
Forces. The 34-year-old con-
stable is on the elite
Emergency Response Team.
He is married with one young
boy and his wife is pregnant
with their second child. He
hasn’t got a blemish on his
record. And Judge Graham
somehow decided he should
go to jail.

Even if, and I don’t fora
moment, accept the word of
the scum ... sorry, Youn:
Offender, and Vallee did what
he is accused of, how in the
name of justice can this judge
even consider custody?

The anomalies in this case
scream out “reasonable
doubt.” The second suspect,
now an adult although I still
can’t tell you his name lest he

somchow treated unhirly,
changed his story from the

budget.

Another example is the ill
considered —_ Victoria-Scattle
Ferry run, which competes at a
joss with the privately owned,
American, Victoria-Port
Angeles Ferry. Where was the
foresight and planning on these
decisions?

Elmer Wiens, Vancouver

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investigative interview to the
cial. Even then, he said the
incident took place in a differ-
ent location than the alleged
victim.

The judge chose to believe
them over the evidence of the
police officer and the summer
student, himself now a police
officer. He said the student,
Dhillon, was cither lying or
“wilfully blind.”

I should add, by the way,
that Graham is not actually a
sitting judge on the island. He
is, what is called, 2 supernu-
mary judge. That means he is
retired on a government
sion. In fact, that’s why
matter took so long to come
to a conclusion, because
Graham leaves the country for
the whole winter, to warmer
climes one would presume.

It’s true that a police offi-
“er must be held to a higher
standard than the general pub-
lic. A matter of trust is
involved. But equally, any
police officer accused of a
crime must be convicted on
the highest standard of avail-
able evidence, not the dubious
word of a convicted thief and
robber, who, by the way, did
not stop his larcenous ways
after this incident.

Vallee’s lawyer, Bill Smart,
has filed an appeal. Vallee
spent the weekend in jail
before being released on bail
on Monday afternoon.

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The judge has gone back
into retirement. The Young
Offender continues to do what
he does best.

The owners of the house
they broke into are outraged
the police officer who came to
their aid is, himself, going to
jail.

The cops are shocked and I
can’t even begin to describe
what this has done to the
morale of those sworn to pro-
tect you and me. Remember
William Bennest, the
pedophile school principal
who waltzed away from his
crimes?

This is our justice system.
Sleep well.

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