|
One casualty
in all of this is Mayor Jim Maddin. Remember when he fired
Dave Scott
in July, 2001? Scott has continued to play a poisonous and divisive
role in Saskatoon city politics.
Richard
Klassen settles with Dueck As of May 16, we still have not
heard the results of the independant investigation into the crimes
committed by Dueck and revealed at the Klassen-Kvello civil trial
| In December, we learned there had been no independent investigation
but a whitewash in Saskatchewan, ignoring Dueck's perjury and
obstruction of justice. Sabo lied
| |
Mayor Atchison | Stonechild
report | More about Sabo: How
he finessed the saving of Superintendent Brian Dueck from the
accountability he promised | Most
recent
Police Chief
Russell Sabo, 2004
Sabo clarifies controversial
comments
Rod Nickel, The StarPhoenix,
November 13, 2004
Police Chief Russell Sabo has
broken his silence on comments he made to officers on parade
on Oct. 30.
Officers report Sabo told them
that he doesn't believe constables Larry Hartwig and Brad Senger
are responsible for Stonechild's death. He confirmed Tuesday
to the board of police commissioners that he made the comments,
but said they were in a broader context.
On Friday, Sabo publicly explained
the comments for the first time.
"I did make a remark in
response to a question that I did not have the belief that Const.
Hartwig and Const. Senger did it," Sabo told a police station
news conference Friday. " 'It' of course meaning leaving
Neil Stonechild in a field in the middle of the night. Indeed,
Mr. (Justice David) Wright himself did not make that conclusion.
My reply was solely in the context of my personal experience
in my dealings with Const. Hartwig and Const. Senger."
Sabo said he also told officers
that it was his responsibility to conduct a review under the
Saskatchewan Police Act and assess their conduct based on objective
evidence.
"So at the parade, I said
nothing that was inconsistent with the findings in the report
of Mr. Justice Wright, and nothing that prejudged my review of
the evidence."
City police association president
Const. Stan Goertzen said he'll wait for the two constables'
appeal hearings to say if he agrees with Sabo's explanation of
his comments.
"We're real clear on some
things," Goertzen said.
Justice Minister Frank Quennell
also refused to address Sabo's explanation of his comments.
"The conduct of the chief
of police is the responsibility of the Saskatoon police commission."
Sabo reiterated that he accepts
the inquiry report's findings and recommendations.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2004
Sabo vows to stay on job despite
heat
Rod Nickel, The StarPhoenix,
November 12, 2004
Police Chief Russell Sabo says
he plans to stay on as Saskatoon's top cop indefinitely, as he
prepares to make arguably the toughest decision of his three
years with the service.
"I have a contract and
I'm going to live up to that contract and do the best job I can
for the citizens of Saskatoon," he said in an interview.
"I have no plans of submitting my resignation. I like this
job, I love the people of this city and I work with a great group
of people in this organization that makes me proud to say I'm
a member of this service."
The chief's contract expires
in August 2006.
"I'm actually hoping at
some point that I'll be able to extend that contract."
Sabo is expected to announce
today a decision on the futures of constables Larry Hartwig and
Brad Senger, who are implicated in the mysterious 1990 death
of teenager Neil Stonechild. Fallout from the explosive report
on the Stonechild inquiry, released Oct. 26, reached into the
chief's office when officers reported him suggesting days later
that the constables aren't connected with Stonechild's death.
Speculation about Sabo's job
became so intense that he was quizzed about his intentions during
a closed-door special meeting with the board of police commissioners
Tuesday.
"There's so much conjecture
out there right now that it's put this thing in a whole different
realm," Sabo said.
He declined to address comments
he made on parade Oct. 30 or questions about the decision on
the constables' future.
Sabo's three years on the force
have been marked by controversy, some of which, like Stonechild's
death, traces back to years before Sabo moved to Saskatoon.
"When I got offered the
job to come to Saskatoon, I knew some of the challenges I would
be facing," he said. "I also knew there were many,
many good people in this police service who want to do the same
thing that I do and that is rebuild contact with the community,
regain trust with the community and demonstrate that we have
people around here that really care. My experience with the public
reassures me every day that this is the place I want to be."
He wouldn't say if he thinks
there's more or less confidence in the force now than when he
took the job of chief.
Police commission chair Mayor
Don Atchison said Sabo has the full confidence of the commission
and himself.
"We believe in the chief,"
he said. "And we believe the decision he makes is a decision
that's best for the entire community and the Saskatoon Police
Service. That's a pretty strong endorsement."
The board will submit a plan
within weeks to respond to eight recommendations of Stonechild
inquiry commissioner Justice David Wright, Atchison said.
Coun. Tiffany Paulsen, also
a member of the police commission, suggests that much hangs on
Sabo's decision today.
"I think the board is
waiting for his decision," Paulsen said, when asked about
support for Sabo. "He is the chief of police. The board
has to support him until or if that changes."
Sabo confirmed to the board
of police commissioners Tuesday that he made comments about Hartwig
and Senger to his officers, which they interpreted as him believing
the constables didn't cause Neil Stonechild's death.
But the chief suggested the
officers may have misinterpreted his comments at the morning
briefing, Paulsen said.
"I wanted some clarification
of whether he made those comments," said Paulsen. "He
indicated that the source (quoted in the StarPhoenix) wasn't
verbatim, but he did make the comments."
Sabo provided the board with
more context about his comments, Paulsen said, adding she couldn't
go into detail.
But the chief's explanation
didn't necessarily satisfy her.
"It's a big deal to me,"
Paulsen said. "I would have preferred he said nothing at
all out of fairness to the officers and the Stonechild family."
Atchison declined comment on
how Sabo explained his words to his officers, saying the force
needs to move on.
Sabo met Wednesday with lawyers
Jay Watson and Chris Boychuk, representing Senger and Hartwig
respectively. The chief told them he was reading statements Senger
had given to RCMP, which were not presented at the Stonechild
inquiry, they said.
"There was nothing in
these statements that showed either of these constables were
engaged in any misconduct whatsoever," Boychuk said. "The
case we made to the chief was the inquiry procedure was so flawed
that any findings with respect to these two officers aren't credible
and shouldn't be relied upon by him. He should the evidence himself
and come to his own conclusion."
For example, the inquiry didn't
permit the officers to call their own evidence, Boychuk said.
The police commission's two-member
subcommittee dealing with the Stonechild inquiry report -- Paulsen
and fellow commissioner Donna Renneberg -- met for the first
time Wednesday.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2004
Troubling lack of confidence
Gerry Klein, The StarPhoenix,
November 10, 2004
It's hard to imagine a more
devastating plague to be visited on a city than the one that
appears to have grabbed Saskatoon by the throat.
And one can be sure that --
even if all predictions come true and constables Larry Hartwig
and Brad Senger are fired when they are called into the office
of police Chief Russell Sabo -- there are more troubles ahead.
There are more than 400 members
of the police service that have sworn to serve and protect the
city and the vast majority of them have taken on the job because
of a real desire to make Saskatoon something better.
And to have their reputation,
and that of the city, internally dragged through the mud has
got to be among the most demoralizing situations one can imagine.
Almost as demoralizing as watching wave after wave of our children
packing their bags and leaving rather than having to explain
the reputation of their home town and the way its police treat
aboriginals.
What is most disturbing for
most police as well as the citizens, is that this reputation
for taking Natives outside the city and allowing them to freeze
-- although it makes for salacious headlines around the world
-- doesn't fit our reality.
Individual police officers
have clearly stated to me that, at least today, there is no blue
line protecting officers who would do such a thing and any officer
implicated in such conduct would have nowhere within the station
to hide.
They point to the ready willingness
of the officer who first heard the allegation that constables
Ken Munson and Dan Hatchen drove Darrell Night to a field near
the Queen Elizabeth power plant on a frigid January night in
2000 to report it to his superiors.
And those officers were convicted
of the crime, went through due process under the Police Act and
were fired without the show of support that has been shown for
Senger and Hartwig.
They argue that it would be
a terrible tragedy if Hartwig and Senger were to be fired for
something they didn't do. This is absolutely true, it would be
a tragedy, and it is this possibility (and for anyone who waded
through Justice David Wright's very well written report, a remote
possibility) that makes their inevitable fate so gut-wrenching.
As Wright points out, the evidence
against the two is not conclusive, and the reason it's not conclusive
is that the officers in charge of finding out how Neil Stonechild
came to such an early and violent end either intentionally or
through neglect blew the investigation.
It is based on this shoddy
police work that Hartwig and Senger are both condemned and exonerated.
And it is the long history
of bad management, poor labour relations, questionable conduct
and outright negligent police work within the department that
makes it easy for the public to believe the worst, and difficult
for the members to defend themselves even when they are doing
no wrong.
Consider, for example, that
many senior officers were insisting that David Milgaard -- a
young man who had his life ruined after sitting in prison for
22 years for a murder he had no connection with -- was only exonerated
because of a technicality.
That technicality was irrefutable
DNA evidence, strong enough that more than two decades after
the murder the evidence was enough to convict the real killer.
And consider also that this
year the body of Alexandra Wiwcharuk, a young nurse murdered
in 1962, had to be exhumed in a desperate attempt to use modern
technology to find her killer.
In a country that prides itself
on the professionalism and integrity of its police forces, it
seems Saskatoon has become the national evidence that the exception
proves the rule. Given the troubles evident in other jurisdictions
-- from Toronto police selling drugs and targeting blacks, to
Vancouver's bad fumbling of the Robert Pickton case and Edmonton's
inability to stop a similar spate of murders -- this city's reputation
is overblown.
But it's Saskatoon that is
most likely to make the national news, and it's Saskatoon that
is included on the U.S. State Department's Country Reports on
Human Rights Practices.
There are few within the department
or the city that wouldn't like to see this community turn the
corner on this issue. Unfortunately the leadership necessary
to get us there has been lacking -- on all fronts.
And it is becoming apparent
that Chief Russell Sabo, like his predecessors dating back almost
two decades, is also struggling to hang on to the helm.
But a police department isn't
optional. Saskatoon needs a service that it can count on, and
the members need an administration they can trust.
One wonders, however, where
the leadership can come from to guide us out of this malaise.
For too long the politics within the department has poisoned
relations, and the politics outside the department have made
it difficult for the Saskatoon police commission to take the
decisive action necessary to clean things up.
Worse yet, turning to the provincial
Justice Department is also problematic. While the Saskatoon police
can bear some of the blame for the Milgaard debacle, the Justice
Department also played an ignominious role -- just as it did
in the Robert Latimer case, the Martensville investigation and
the Klassen and Kvello cases.
And the sordid stories aren't
over yet as we wait for more inquiries into the handling of a
number of these flawed cases.
Before we ever make it past
this apparent crisis in confidence in those who would be our
protectors, we will need someone to step forward with solid leadership,
someone who can convince all the parties involved, from community
members to the justice minister, to pull together rather than
continually setting upon ourselves.
Without that leadership, we
will be doomed like Prometheus, who was ordered by Zeus to be
chained in the Caucusus Mountains where every day his liver was
eaten by an eagle, only to have it grow back overnight and have
the pain repeated.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2004
Cop would appeal firing:
lawyer
Rod Nickel, The StarPhoenix;
With files from Saskatchewan News Network, November 10, 2004
The stage will be set for a
sequel to the Neil Stonechild inquiry if constables Larry Hartwig
and Brad Senger are fired or charged.
Chief Russell Sabo's options
for dealing with the suspended officers include firing them outright
or charging them under the Police Act.
In either case, Hartwig will
appeal, said his lawyer, Aaron Fox.
An appeal would result in a
public hearing before a lawyer acting as hearing officer, where
Sabo would have to prove grounds for dismissal or charges, such
as discreditable conduct.
That may mean calling witnesses
like Stonechild's friend Jason Roy one more time, to prove Stonechild
was in their cruiser.
"It would be a replay,
subject to some (inquiry) evidence not being admissible and likely
some additional evidence being called," Fox said.
The officers would at least
initially pay their hearing costs, Fox said, with the province
paying for the hearing officer and the police service responsible
for its own costs. If dismissals are overturned or the charges
found groundless, however, the officers' costs would be turned
back to the force, based on stipulations of their collective
bargaining agreement, said Const. Stan Goertzen, president of
the city police association.
The Stonechild inquiry lasted
43 days spread over six months and cost more than $2 million.
Sabo's only grounds for dismissing
an employee under the Police Act are unsuitability or incompetence,
both of which would have to be proven, Fox said. The proceedings
are similar to those of a civil trial, where the hearing officer
makes a decision based on the balance of probabilities, similar
to the Stonechild inquiry. Unlike the inquiry, a hearing wouldn't
accept evidence such as hearsay, Fox said.
The chief was originally expected
to announce a decision on the officers' future this morning but
police officials say a date is now uncertain.
Sabo's other options are reinstating
the officers or imposing remedial action, such as requiring the
constables to take training for use of force, Fox said.
Justice Minister Frank Quennell,
meanwhile, gives the leadership of the Saskatoon Police Service
a vote of confidence.
"I am still confident
that the Saskatoon police commission can put forward a plan of
action which will be externally reviewed by the provincial commission
that will lead to increased confidence by the entire community
of Saskatoon in its police force," Quennell told reporters
in Regina. "I think some of the discussions that have been
made by some commentators about substituting a different police
force are premature."
Quennell said he's relying
on the Saskatoon police commission to show leadership.
"It seems like the natural
first step in this case to proceed with a plan that comes from
the people chosen -- and there is some elected political leadership
on that police commission, two councillors and the mayor,"
Quennell said. "They need an opportunity to demonstrate
some leadership."
Mayor Don Atchison said commissioners
are behind Sabo.
"The board has confidence
in the chief that the decision he makes will be in the city's
best interests. Whatever decision the chief makes, we're going
to become a stronger community for it. Sometimes when you go
through a crisis, it brings people together."
Inside the Saskatoon police
station, the tension is strong enough to affect how officers
approach their jobs.
"The only thing to do
is work hard and be as professional as you can," said one
officer, on condition of anonymity. "Some of the really
junior people . . . are afraid to get involved in anything heavy
because they're afraid someone will come down on them."
"It's a very difficult
time for everybody," said a second officer. "An awful
lot of work has gone into improving relations with aboriginal
people. Those (officers) who work in the schools and with aboriginal
people, they're fearing a backlash."
Atchison said the public should
respect the work police are doing under difficult circumstances.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2004
Time
to bring in the RCMP
Randy Burton, The StarPhoenix,
November 09, 2004
Just the thought of it seems
like an impossibility. The challenges would be daunting, the
practicalities overwhelming.
Somehow, though, the suggestion
keeps coming up. The idea of rolling up the Saskatoon Police
Service and bringing in some kind of replacement force is heard
with increasing frequency.
The idea now circulating within
Saskatoon and beyond is that the local force is irredeemable;
it is so dysfunctional that an entirely new approach to policing
in Saskatoon is required.
Former mayor and police commission
member Jim Maddin has said this idea occurred to him when he
was still in office, but found that there would have to be a
near breakdown in the force's ability to operate before such
a thing could even be considered.
Still, it's an idea that also
appeals to University of Saskatchewan business ethics Prof. Colin
Boyd, who made the same suggestion in the pages of the StarPhoenix
on Monday.
The logistics of such a thing
seem preposterous. How could you simply fire more than 300 officers
and replace them with some other force? Surely the RCMP doesn't
have sufficient manpower to even consider such a thing.
Even if it did, what would
it cost? The severance costs alone would be astronomical. Because
of the obvious problems, no one within the police commission
or the city administration even wants to raise the issue.
So far, Mayor Don Atchison
remains non-committal about the key findings of the Wright report
into Neil Stonechild's death, which is the flashpoint for reconsideration
of the police force's role in public security.
However, there are good reasons
to believe some other policing model might make sense for Saskatoon.
There have been a series of
events that show the Saskatoon police force has deep-seated problems
that include not only the Munson and Hatchen affair and the Stonechild
incident, but the admission of various officers that dumping
Natives is not unknown within the service.
Also, the police union apparently
refuses to accept the word of a well-respected judge in the Stonechild
affair. The reason Justice David Wright was chosen to lead the
inquiry is because he has a reputation for being a careful judge.
After weighing the testimony, he found that Stonechild was in
police custody on the night he died, and that marks on his face
were likely caused by handcuffs.
These findings have been rejected
by the police union. To have 200 officers cast a vote to the
effect that Wright's findings of fact represent no more than
an opinion sends a very strong message that rank and file police
officers have no respect for outside views of their performance.
A third reason for considering
another policing model is that we know there is an institutional
reluctance to look outside for help. When Rodney Naistus and
Lawrence Wegner were found frozen to death in the southeast industrial
area of the city, the first instinct of then-police chief Dave
Scott was to have his own officers investigate the incident.
The provincial Justice Department intervened to say that was
not acceptable and the RCMP was brought in.
It was they who reopened the
Stonechild investigation and it was their findings that eventually
led to the Wright inquiry. Sources say that the RCMP has since
informed the provincial Justice Department on more than one occasion
that the Saskatoon police force is a deeply troubled organization.
We now have another situation
where the chief obviously does not enjoy the confidence of his
department. If he cannot impose order and convince the troops
that there is some need for change, then presumably someone else
is going to have to do it.
The question is who?
The provincial government has
said it intends to give the police service an opportunity to
make the kinds of institutional change that Wright has recommended.
Given that police Chief Russell Sabo has his own doubts about
Wright's findings, the chances for change from within seem increasingly
unlikely. Consequently, there remains a large role for the province
in the Saskatoon police saga.
If he chose to, Justice Minister
Frank Quennell could appoint an outside expert on policing to
review the operations of the Saskatoon police and make recommendations
on what it would take to fix the force. Or he could ask the RCMP
itself to examine the city police in a more detailed way.
If the findings were that the
problems cannot be fixed without a fresh start, then the city
and the province would at least have a guide to follow.
The solution need not be the
RCMP moving in and taking over from the city police entirely.
Conceivably, the RCMP could take over management of the existing
force at the senior levels and begin to dismantle the so-called
"blue wall" that seems to rule the service at the moment.
The province could pass whatever enabling legislation might be
required.
The next clue on whether any
of this makes sense will reveal itself Wednesday, when Sabo is
expected to say what he intends to do with constables Larry Hartwig
and Brad Senger.
If he announces they have resigned
with severance, it will be a sign that Sabo has sufficient influence
to begin to resuscitate the reputation of the force.
If he says they are staying
on, it will be a sign to the public that the inmates truly are
running the asylum.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2004
Sabo seeks to beef up city
police force
Rod Nickel, The StarPhoenix,
May 11, 2004
The long arm of the law may
extend its reach this summer under Chief Russell Sabo's plan
to beef up policing on busy nights, but first Saskatoon's police
association must give its consent.
Sabo wants to put four more
patrol cars, including eight officers, on the street between
5 p.m. and 3 a.m., Wednesday through Saturday nights. To do it
as the force waits to hire and train 20 new constables, Sabo
wants to temporarily transfer three constables from traffic duties,
one from the criminal investigations division, two from work
in schools and two from community duties to patrol, starting
July 1.
"That is adding a significant
number of vehicles to a night shift," Sabo said, adding
he hopes the change results in faster response times. "We
want to make sure they're out there when we need them."
Police typically handle more
alcohol-related incidents during those hours, ranging from assaults
to thefts, Sabo said.
New recruits would replace
the transferred officers on patrol early in 2005.
The additional policing at
night is a non-starter without the approval of the city police
association. Sabo will ask it to allow patrol officers to work
10-hour shifts, rather than 12-hour shifts that have been negotiated
through collective bargaining.
Association president Const.
Stan Goertzen said he's willing to listen to the proposal when
formal contract talks start today, even though he has serious
concerns.
The switch to a 10-hour shift
would make it harder for the force to recruit, since officers
prefer working fewer, but longer, days, he said. Saskatoon police
officers began working 12-hour shifts, instead of eight, in 1983.
Sabo already has flexibility
to put more officers on the street built into the contract without
changing the length of shifts, Goertzen said.
The association is also concerned
about shortchanging other areas of policing to shore up the night
shift until new recruits arrive.
Sabo acknowledges moving officers
will have repercussions.
"Taking three out of traffic
will definitely have an effect on the amount of enforcement we
can do, particularly how we respond to hit and runs." Sabo
concedes. "It will still get done, just take a little longer."
More is riding on these contract
talks than wages and hours, said Mayor Don Atchison, who supported
a civic tax increase of almost four per cent, linked to a police
budget increase.
"(City council) made it
perfectly clear that they expect to see more officers out there.
If they don't get more out there, that makes an argument that
the money for it won't necessarily be there next year."
The board of police commissioners
also supports extra patrols on busy nights, Atchison said.
During summer, school liaison
officers typically take holidays or assume other duties, anyway,
Sabo said.
The force hasn't decided where
to deploy the additional patrol officers and is waiting for an
audit on which areas most calls come from, Sabo said.
There would be minimal cost
to transferring the officers, although the force will have to
pay additional shift premiums for the late hours.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2004
Has the clean-up begun?
We remain hopeful but cautious.
As the report below states,
complaints have been filed against Dueck going backto 1993. Injusticebusters
has kept track of how Dueck has been rewarded since he first
shopped this case to Prosecutor Matthew Miazga -- who took it
to trial. While Chief Scott was promoting Dueck, first from corporal
to sergeant, then to superintendent, we were continually raising
the issue. Deptury Chief Dan Wiks was also a loyal Dueck supporter/promoter.
He is now on leave as Saskatoon police conduct an internal investigation
regarding lies he told the media which he admitted to during
the Stonechild inquiry.
Police chief requests
Klassen trial documents:
Information concerns police conduct
Rod Nickel, The StarPhoenix,
Thursday, March 25, 2004
Saskatoon police Chief Russell
Sabo has asked the Justice Department for copies of documents
entered at the Klassen trial as a result of a completed, independent
investigation of Supt. Brian Dueck.
The firm of Priel Stevenson
Hood & Thornton, which submitted a report on its investigation
to Sabo within the last two weeks, focused on any wrongdoing
by Dueck under the Police Act. It also looked into the potential
of wrongdoing under other statutes, such as the Criminal Code.
The documents, along with the
legal firm's recommendations, will help Sabo determine if the
force should seek an outside police agency to conduct a full
criminal investigation of Dueck, the chief said.
"We're going to examine
whether or not there was evidence called that would support or
deny any wrongdoing," Sabo said.
Late last year, Richard Klassen
and 11 other plaintiffs successfully sued Dueck, therapist Carol
Bunko-Ruys and Crown prosecutor Matt Miazga for malicious prosecution.
Klassen and members of his
family had been falsely accused of sexually abusing three foster
children in the early 1990s. Their lawsuit sought damages of
more than $10 million. A damages trial is set for September.
Sabo wouldn't say what type
of documents he wants to examine. He did say he and the legal
firm are also concerned about comments Justice George Baynton
made about Dueck during the trial.
Richard Klassen suspects the
evidence concerns false pretenses Dueck may have used to obtain
three search warrants in connection with the prosecution.
"He was really the kingpin,
the beginning of the malicious prosecution that ended in 1993,"
Klassen said in an interview.
Dueck couldn't be reached for
comment. Lawyer David Gerrand, who represented Dueck in the trial,
said he isn't in a position to comment on the latest development.
The legal firm's recommendations
concerning any wrongdoing covered by the Police Act will stay
in abeyance pending consideration of any criminal investigation,
Sabo said. The act itemizes forms of police misconduct and steps
a force can take to discipline an officer, such as a suspension.
Klassen first filed complaints
about Dueck in 1993, but the police service disregarded them,
he said. This time, he has more faith police are diligently looking
into the officer's conduct.
"I hope I'm not being
lied to and I don't think I am," he said. "I feel a
whitewash, at this time, after all the evidence and a hard-hitting
judgment, is almost impossible."
Dueck remains on indefinite
medical leave, dealing with stress, according to Mayor Don Atchison.
The chief said he hopes to
provide more definitive answers within three weeks. Sabo declined
to reveal the cost of the legal firm's investigation.
© Copyright 2004 The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)
Wiks disciplined:
Deputy police chief lied about evidence to newspaper reporter
Rod Nickel, The StarPhoenix,
March 18, 2004
Police Chief Russell Sabo swiftly
removed deputy chief Dan Wiks from his post following Wiks' admission
to the Stonechild inquiry he lied to The StarPhoenix about evidence.
Sabo hastily announced Wednesday
that Wiks was placed on paid administrative leave last Friday,
a day after wrapping up testimony to the inquiry.
The leave is pending a police
misconduct investigation by an external party not yet selected.
Wiks, who has served 31 years
with the force, had denied in a May 2003 interview that the service
knew RCMP considered constables Larry Hartwig and Bradley Senger
suspects and that there was evidence suggesting Stonechild had
been in their car the night he went missing.
"All of us recognize that
the public must have confidence in their police," Sabo said
in an interview. "Any circumstance where the police are
alleged to have committed a misconduct and public confidence
is an issue of grave concern to myself as chief of police and
all our members."
Wiks' leave status will be
reviewed before the end of the month. The force could then consider
suspending Wiks.
Sabo said whether administrative
leave is a disciplinary move is subject to interpretation.
Const. Stan Goertzen, president
of the city police association, said it seems clear to him.
"An administrative leave
sounds like a suspension to me. It's just sugar-coating a suspension."
Wiks is not a member of the
police association. Goertzen said rank and file officers are
struggling to reconcile Wiks' testimony with the man they know.
"Did he deliberately try
to mislead (media)? I'd be real surprised. Should he have been
clearer? Possibly."
Wiks, who couldn't be reached
for comment, was "supportive" of administrative leave
and understands the seriousness of the matter, Sabo said.
Sabo acknowledges he knew himself
that Hartwig and Senger were suspects long before the newspaper
article appeared. He didn't catch the lie at that time because
he was then on his own leave and wasn't reading the newspaper.
"First time I saw (the
article) was during the inquiry," he said. "I was trying
to avoid all of the media during that time."
Mayor Don Atchison, chair of
the police commission, said he wasn't aware until Wednesday of
the change in Wiks' status. He said he hopes the public is encouraged
that the force is taking action.
"They're trying to address
it immediately, as opposed to just letting it lie there until
someone comes forward with a complaint."
Don Worme, lawyer for Neil
Stonechild's family, and Si Halyk, lawyer for the Federation
of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, declined comment on Wiks' leave.
The service will appoint a
senior officer to take Wiks' place while he's away.
It's unusual for the force
to publicize internal discipline matters, Sabo acknowledged.
He said he did so late Wednesday afternoon as a result of StarPhoenix
inquiries about Wiks' status.
Sabo himself was on a paid
leave of absence for eight weeks last year while an investigation
into harassment of his former executive assistant was ongoing.
He then returned to work after he publicly apologized for his
actions.
"I have a great deal of
sympathy for any officer that goes through an investigation,"
he said.
© Copyright 2004 The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)
Sorry, Sabo tells Klassens
Gerry Klein, The StarPhoenix,
January 8 , 2004
Saskatoon police Chief Russell
Sabo apologized Wednesday to the Klassen family and announced
he hired a law firm to investigate the role Supt. Brian Dueck
played in their malicious prosecution.
"My sympathy goes to each
and every person that was wrongfully charged and I extend my
apologies to them for any part that the Saskatoon Police Service
played in this case," Sabo told a press conference. He was
not Saskatoon's police chief when the bizarre allegations surfaced.
Dueck, who is off work on a
medical leave that began Monday, is suspended from conducting
police work while the investigation continues, Sabo said.
Last week Justice George Baynton
of the Court of Queen's Bench issued a scathing judgment that
included criticisms of the way Dueck doggedly pursued charges
against Richard Klassen and 11 family members accused of ritual
abuse against three foster children more than a decade ago.
Baynton ruled that Dueck, along
with child therapist Carol Bunko-Ruys and Crown prosecutor Matthew
Miazga, had maliciously prosecuted the plaintiffs. Dueck was
ruled to have conducted a shoddy investigation of the sexual
abuse allegations and ignored evidence that would have cleared
the accused.
The 12 plaintiffs were seeking
more than $10 million in the civil case.
The investigation will focus
on the evidence presented during the civil proceedings to determine
whether Dueck violated any part of the Saskatchewan Police Act,
said Insp. Lorne Constantinoff, a spokesperson for the department.
It won't look at the actions
of others in the department, including Dueck's supervisors at
the time.
The department didn't take
action before the judgment because it was waiting for due process
to take its course, Constantinoff said.
Dueck was in charge of records
management at the department before his leave and earns about
$100,000 a year.
Richard Klassen, who represented
himself at the civil trial, was disappointed the chief didn't
fire Dueck outright, given the evidence and the harshness of
the ruling.
But he was pleased and overwhelmed
by Sabo's apology, he said in an interview.
"I talked to him before
and I expected him to do the right thing," he said.
Klassen believes Sabo's action
-- and the work done by "98 per cent" of the police
service -- demonstrates that Saskatoon's citizens should have
a lot of faith in the department, he said.
"A few bad apples (however)
will ruin it for everyone," he added. "The rest all
get painted with the same brush . . . but I think Saskatoon police
are moving in the right direction."
Although ministers from either
the Justice or Community Resources departments (responsible for
social services) have yet to comment on the decision, Justice
Minister Frank Quennell is expected to hold a press conference
in Regina sometime today.
The malicious prosecution lawsuit
stemmed from an investigation in the 1990s when Klassen, his
wife and other family members were accused of sexually abusing
twins Kathy and Michell Ross and their older brother Michael.
The allegations included detailed accounts of satanic ritual
abuse, which included animal and human sacrifice, as well as
claims the children had been forced to eat feces and drink urine.
The children later recanted
their stories, and Michael Ross was found to be abusing his sisters.
Police arrested 16 people in
1991, but charges against 12 of them were stayed in 1993 after
Klassen's father, Peter, pleaded guilty to sexual assault as
part of a plea bargain to spare his family members.
Baynton's judgment came just
as a separate inquiry is taking place in Saskatoon regarding
the investigation of the 1990 death of 17-year-old Neil Stonechild.
Witnesses at that inquiry have
been critical of the cursory manner in which that investigation
took place.
And Sabo's apology comes just
a day after Regina's Chief Cal Johnston apologized to that city's
citizens after a 20-year member of that service was convicted
for the theft of a laptop.
In spite of these problems,
Sabo (who came to Saskatoon two years ago from Calgary) doesn't
believe there is anything endemically wrong with Saskatchewan's
police.
Police in this province are
held to a high standard -- just as they are across the country,
he said. One doesn't hear of problems here any more than in other
cities, he added.
There is concern within the
department, from the executive to the rank and file, of the black
eyes the force has suffered, he said.
But the Saskatoon police service
is an entirely different force than what it was two years ago.
Since 2000, more than 100 new members have joined the force and
they are all very concerned "over the safety of this city,"
he said.
Although the damages have not
yet been awarded in the lawsuit, all but the $50,000 deductible
for the amount Dueck will be responsible for will come from insurance,
said city solicitor Theresa Dust. It's impossible to say whether
the settlement with the Klassen family will result in higher
premiums because insurance companies look at a number of issues
when setting rates, she said.
© Copyright 2004 The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)
Saskatoon police chief
apologizes to family accused of foster kids sex abuse
January 7, 2003
SASKATOON (CP) - The city's
police chief publicly apologized Wednesday to 12 people wrongfully
accused of ritualistically abusing three young foster children
more than a decade ago.
Russell Sabo also said he is
enlisting the services of a Saskatoon law firm to determine if
there were any violations by investigators under the Saskatchewan
Police Act. "My sympathy goes to each and every person that
was wrongfully charged," Sabo said.
"I extend my apologies
to them for any part that the Saskatoon police service played
in this case."
Last week, a judge ruled that
investigators had been malicious in their pursuit of a case against
12 members of the Klassen family.
The ruling applied to three
of the lead investigators: Saskatoon police Supt. Brian Dueck,
who was a corporal when the case broke; therapist Carol Bunko-Ruys
and Crown prosecutor Matthew Miazga.
Sabo said Dueck started a paid
medical leave on Monday. He will not be working while the review
is done. Sabo would not give details about Dueck's health.
Saskatoon
police issue Klassen apology
CBC Saskatchewan, January
7, 2004
SASKATOON -The Saskatoon police department has
issued an apology to a family that a court found was maliciously
prosecuted after two children made allegations of satanic sexual
abuse.
Chief Russell Sabo issued the
apology at a press conference in Saskatoon Wednesday morning.
The case involved 12 members
of the Klassen family. They people took the case to court and
won after claiming the prosecutor and the police officer in the
case were malicious in pursuing allegations made by two foster
children.
The charges against the Klassens were left in place for more
than a year after the two children admitted they lied about the
satanic sexual abuse rituals and only one person was ever charged
in the case after pleading guilty instead of having the case
tried.
Richard Klassen, who was among
the twelve plaintiffs seeking $10 million in damages, says the
chief's apology is a good start to the healing process, but he
still wants to hear an apology from officer Brian Dueck, the
lead investigator in the case.
A judge ruled that Crown prosecutor
Matthew Miazga, police officer Brian Dueck and child therapist
Carol Bunko-Ruys maliciously prosecuted the plaintiffs, but dismissed
the claims against a fourth defendant, Crown prosecutor Sonja
Hansen. The judge also dismissed Miazga's and Hansen's counterclaim
against Klassen for defamation.
Thirteen people were originally
arrested in 1991 and charged with over 70 criminal offences.
The charges involved foster children making wild allegations
about bondage, bloodletting, mutilation and murder.
Sabo says he's appointed an
independent lawyer to review the case and see if there have been
violations of the police act. Klassen thinks the chief should
expand the investigation to consider criminal charges
It is the first time in the
province's history that anyone has successfully sued for malicious
prosecution.
|
Truth can never be
told so as to be understood, and not be believ'd. William Blake, The Proverbs of Hell
