|
  |
 Police turf war sank B.C. Hells Angels investigation, former policeman alleges |
| Autor |
Beitrag |
Katrin
Besucher
 |
|
| Police turf war sank B.C. Hells Angels investigation, former policeman alleges |
   
|
Ex-officer claims wrongful dismissal
Chad Skelton and Allison Cross, Vancouver Sun
Published: Saturday, July 05, 2008
Animosity between the RCMP and the Organized Crime Agency of B.C. resulted in the failure of a multi-million-dollar investigation into the Hells Angels, a former lead investigator with the OCABC has alleged in a wrongful dismissal suit.
The investigation, known as Project Phoenix, targeted several high-profile members of the Hells Angels biker gang, with agents working for the police buying and selling large quantities of drugs.
The investigation was completed and reports were sent to Crown counsel for charges.
However, no charges were ever laid, something Allen Dalstrom -- the officer who led the investigation and is now suing for wrongful dismissal -- blames on infighting between the RCMP and the OCABC.
Dalstrom was fired in 2004 after concerns were raised about his handling of Phoenix and over comments he allegedly made to a journalist writing a book about the Angels. However, in a statement of claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court, Dalstrom argued there were no grounds to fire him and that Phoenix was derailed because of RCMP jealousy over the creation of the OCABC in 1999.
"Certain members of the senior management of the RCMP in British Columbia were opposed to the creation of the OCABC from its inception because the OCABC was given the mandate to carry out investigations that had previously been within the mandate of the RCMP," Dalstrom alleged in his statement of claim.
"The RCMP in British Columbia sought to persuade the province to disband the OCABC and return the mandate for investigating organized crime to the RCMP."
Dalstrom alleged that the RCMP attacked his handling of Phoenix "as a means of discrediting the management of the OCABC generally."
According to Dalstrom, a number of outside reviews of Project Phoenix concluded that the case had been handled properly.
Documents filed by Dalstrom quote a 2003 independent review of Phoenix which states: "The multi-million-dollar Phoenix investigation could have been prosecuted, but the prosecution was derailed because of inter-agency jealousies."
The court records do not state who the criminal targets of Phoenix were. However, The Vancouver Sun has learned the investigation targeted members of the Hells Angels biker gang.
In his statement of claim, Dalstrom argued that lawyers with the Department of Justice ultimately decided not to prosecute those targeted by Phoenix because it would have meant the "persistent inter-agency dispute between the RCMP and the OCABC" would become public.
"In the opinion of the Vancouver office of the Department of Justice, such an examination would have a negative effect on public order and morale, and on public confidence in the administration of justice," Dalstrom stated.
In 2004, the same year Dalstrom was dismissed, OCABC was folded into the new Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (CFSEU), an integrated team of RCMP and municipal police officers.
Dalstrom's lawsuit names the province of B.C.; David Douglas, the former chief officer of OCABC who fired him; and Kevin Begg, head of the provincial government's police services division, as defendants.
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/...07-c4eff2b02484
|
|
08.07.2008 19:39 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Views heute: 14.508 | Views gestern: 18.460 | Views gesamt: 114.482.153
|
