Scanned, recopied or Internet copy, if there are errors, please e-mail me with corrections: Opening comments: More at the end. The Record (KITCHENER) - Apr. 29, 2010 - By Brian Caldwell, Record staff - bcaldwell@therecord.com Police challenged over arrests for not showing ID Police were challenged on three fronts Thursday for the alleged arrests of people who refused to identify themselves when asked by officers. Davin Charney and Mark Corbiere are suing Waterloo Regional Police for $17,000 in small claims court after they were handcuffed and put into cruisers during an investigation into a break-in in August 2008. Charney, a social activist turned lawyer who has made it a mission to pursue police for alleged wrongdoing, also sent an open letter to Chief Matt Torigian urging a review of procedures. “The public expects that police officers not only enforce the law, but that they obey the law themselves,” he wrote. “Officers should be reminded that it is the right of every person to refuse to identify themselves to police.” Meanwhile, a second local lawyer, Jeffrey Garland, filed a formal complaint with police over his alleged arrest while walking near Kitchener City Hall in February. The Charney-Corbiere lawsuit concerns an incident the day after Charney — who had numerous run-ins with police while staging protests on behalf of the poor, the young and the homeless — moved back to Kitchener to practise law. He testified he and Corbiere, a friend, were walking downtown along Eby Street when they passed Const. Tanya Natyshak-Cole talking to a young man. They were watching the scene with a group of friends nearby, Charney testified, when a second officer, Const. Tim Evans, arrived and asked Corbiere for identification. When he refused, he said, Corbiere was cuffed with his hands behind his back, searched, placed in a cruiser and held for about 15 minutes while Evans did a computer check on him. Charney said he went over to watch what was happening because he was concerned about his friend, then was approached by Natyshak-Cole and asked to produce his identification. He said he also refused and was cuffed, searched and put in a cruiser before being released unconditionally. “As I understand the law, there was something wrong with what happened that day,” Charney said. Natyshak-Cole testified she had been given vague descriptions of three possible suspects in a break-in across the street from where Charney and Corbiere were hanging out with several friends. One of the men was described as Hispanic and about five feet, eight inches tall. She said Corbiere — a Native who is about six feet, two inches tall — generally fit that description because of his dark complexion and that Charney was also a possible suspect because he was with him. Natyshak-Cole testified that the friends across the street were yelling crude comments at police and she was worried about the safety of the situation. When he refused to identify himself, she said, she made an “investigative detention” of Charney, then cuffed and searched him for weapons as a safety precaution. “I’m not going to just let you go, sir,” Natyshak-Cole told him during cross-examination. “I don’t know who you are or where you live.” Police contend the actions of the two officers were “fully justified and reasonable.” Charney and Corbiere allege police abused their power by detaining them — especially by cuffing and searching them — because there were no reasonable grounds to believe they had anything to do with the break-in. “She just goes out and feels she’s at liberty to grab anybody in the area,” Charney said of Natyshak-Cole. Deputy Judge Sebastian Winny is scheduled to release a written decision Monday. Garland, who is represented by Charney, is seeking an apology and an admission from police that he was improperly detained, arrested and searched by two officers. He said in his complaint that he was followed by two officers on King Street West, then pushed against a wall and arrested after he protested a search of his coat for identification. Garland said he had verbally told police his name and was never given a reason for his arrest or told of his right to contact a lawyer. Officers let him go after confirming his identity and background. “I was visibly shaken and upset by this incident,” he wrote. The incident involving Garland was one of three outlined by Charney in his letter to Chief Torigian. Supt. Steve Beckett, a police spokesperson, declined Thursday to comment on the allegations and concerns it raised. “We’ll consider the contents of the letter and provide a response to Mr. Charney at the appropriate time,” he said. Home Page - Main Table of Contents - Back up a page - Back to Top [COMMENTS BY DON B. - ] |
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