The Vancouver Police Strike Again:
Another Citizen Takes a Beating
by C. L. Cook
 There is obviously a systemic problem with not only the VPD but policing throughout Canada where decades of criminality and impunity on the part of police forces has, in combination I suspect with too much television viewing and alcohol abuse, conspired to produce a generation of police who have no concept of the old saw "to serve and protect."
Yao Wei Wu demonstrates what he says happened to him
during an encounter with Vancouver police Thursday morning. (CBC)
It seems we the citizenry are the "others" and whenever we are beaten, arrested without cause, tasered to death, run over, shot in custody, or merely belittled and humiliated at ever-increasing road stops little happens to the offenders.
Another case in point: In the wee hours of Wednesday last two plainclothes VPD officers responding to a domestic disturbance call confronted and severely beat up Yao Wei Wu. Wu resisted arrest, the VPD story went, and so was brutally subdued, handcuffed, and arrested.
It was only when asked his name did the officers realize they had in fact gone to the wrong address, and beaten and arrested the wrong man.
[UPDATE Jan. 29, 2010: Mr. Wu has filed suit against the Vancouver Police Department, (VPD) retaining well-known human rights lawyer Cameron Ward, among others. Ward has filed a complaint, citing the VPD's repeated visits to Wu in what he says is an effort to dissuade Wu's law suit against them, he demands they cease and desist immediately. Ward has also requested the yet unreleased names and badge numbers of the two policemen who attacked Wu. January 21, 2010. - ed.]
"A full and thorough internal investigation has been launched into the case of an eastside resident who was injured and arrested in a case of mistaken identity. [...] The man resisted by striking out at the police and trying to slam the door, but the officers persisted in the belief that there may be a woman and child inside who could be in danger."
It was only later, as has so often happened before, the VPD story changed. The only remarkable thing about the police story switcharoo this time was the abject apology delivered by Vancouver's chief of police, and his admonishment of the original version released to a credulous media.
At a Friday morning news conference, VPD chief Jim Chu was adamant that Mr. Wu was NOT resisting arrest, but stopped short of criticizing his officers, saying;
"We said Mr. Wu resisted arrest and was injured in the process. I want to make it perfectly clear this morning that we do not stand by that statement. This was information that was premature and released as fact when only an investigation can determine what happened."
Ah, a police investigation of the police. Yes, that aught to clear up the whole thing...in a year or two. By then, with the Olympics past and the tourist season over and the flickering public memory mired in all manner of new news we may find out what the VPD believes really occurred the night Yao Wei Wu had his orbital bone broken and received the numerous, and doubtless costly, injuries at the hands of two goons who had likely seen L.A. Confidential one too many times.
The situation of out of control cops, who feel just fine going ballistic on hapless citizens, especially ones of the poorer and darker-hued varieties is not helped by the silent complicity of politicians, and the kid glove treatment meted out by the media.
Today for instance, Vancouver CBC Radio reported;
"A man was accidentally beaten and arrested by the VPD..."
 Which part of this brutal and entirely illegal assault was accidental? Would it have not been an accident if Wu was the man the police were looking for? Is it now O.K. to beat the hell out suspects, then invent stories of resisting arrest? What next, "shot while trying to escape"?
Russell Crowe in L.A. Confidential:
Model VPD member?
As long as the CBC, and the rest of media, is more concerned with maintaining the goodwill of police, which they need to a great degree, and as long as politicians are intimately connected to the revolving door between public office and the judiciary, (many being former, and future, lawyers) police will continue to abuse both their authority and the people who pay for the privilege of that abuse with impunity.
Paying for it tonight, and throughout how many as yet undetermined medical procedures, is a newcomer to Canada, an innocent man who did nothing but answer his door when the police rang the bell. I wonder, will he answer that bell again, or make the call to authorities the next time he hears a neighbour in trouble?
As for the names and fate of the peace officers involved, we'll have to wait until chief Chu's investigation to "determine what happened."
Meanwhile, the police it seems are becoming more a threat to the peace than keepers of it in Canada, and that situation exists from coast to coast to coast.
[And, this just in... - ed.]
British Columbia Civil Liberties Association
January 22, 2010
For immediate release
BCCLA calls on VPD to ask another force to investigate beating
Following unsubstantiated allegations by representatives of the Vancouver Police Department that a man beaten by VPD officers in a case of mistaken identity had “resisted,” and then a retraction of those comments the next day, the BCCLA called for the investigation of the matter to be undertaken by an independent police department.
“There is clearly a great amount of confusion about this very troubling case, and a conflict between the VPD’s interest in protecting its officers and investigating the matter thoroughly,” said Jason Gratl, Vice-President of the BCCLA. “The most appropriate course of action now is for the VPD to move the investigation outside of their own department and ask an external force to take over.”
VPD spokesperson Jana McGuinness stated yesterday that the man, who was not involved in any crime and was mistaken for someone else by police, “resisted by striking out at the police and trying to slam the door.”
Today, VPD Chief Jim Chu stepped back from those allegations, saying, “I want to make it perfectly clear this morning that we do not stand by that statement.”
“We are glad the VPD realized the error of pronouncing on what happened before the investigation had even commenced, as this is an issue we’ve raised with them in the past,” said Gratl. “With that said, the public needs to have confidence that this very troubling matter will be thoroughly investigated by an impartial force, and the VPD stands to lose some face if that initial version of events proves to be incorrect.”
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Jason Gratl, Vice-President, 604-317-1919
David Eby, Executive Director, 778-865-7997
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