Shooting death leaves city shaken

Shooting death leaves city shaken
Last updated Oct 24 2005 04:15 PM MDT
CBC News

Friends were trying to come to grips Monday with the sudden, tragic death of Sara Easton, who was shot to death early Saturday morning as she walked home from celebrating her 18th birthday.

Easton, who graduated from Archbishop O'Leary in June, was walking at 3 a.m. with a group of about 10 friends in the area of 124th Street and 134th Avenue when a man in a car pulled up to them.

Police said they got into an argument in the middle of a street. The man drove about half a block away, then pulled out a handgun and shot back at the group, striking Easton – the city's 31st homicide of the year.

http://edmonton.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=ed-easton-sara20051024

'Our lives will never be the same'

Under grey skies and drizzle, the families of victims of violence told their stories — of lives cut short, of killers still on the loose.

Stories like that of Godfrey Dunbar, who, at age 27, was shot in 1999 in a packed nightclub. But nobody saw a thing.

"We are all to blame," Shephard said. "The community doesn't speak up. The police don't make arrests. The government doesn't put in necessary deterrents."

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1130105407400&call_pageid=968350130169&col=969483202845
The Radio Category
CBC Radio - Edmonton

Internal Affairs: Edmonton Police under the microscope
Timothy Sawa’s investigation of allegations of ties between the Edmonton police force and the Hells Angels led to many denials and admissions


In Canada, we generally trust the police to protect us from criminals. So it's a disturbing, even frightening thought, that some officers may be consorting with organized crime. Such was the fear in Edmonton when two detectives came forward with shocking allegations in the spring of 1999. Ron Robertson and Ken Montgomery claimed the force had been infiltrated by the Hells Angels and other elements of organized crime. They also claimed the chief at the time, John Lindsay, ignoring their concerns.

After weeks of research and confidential meetings the first break came. Sources revealed a police detective was strongly suspected of selling inside information to the Hells Angels for $20,000. The sources also confirmed that Edmonton chief, John Lindsay, waited five months before ordering an internal investigation. At about the same time another source revealed that detective Ken Montgomery was engaged in a bitter internal battle with his supervisors over legal bills from a lawsuit. Was the department trying to punish Montgomery by not covering his legal expenses? CBC Radio decided it was in the public interest to reveal Montgomery`s battle over his expenses and the new corruption information about the Edmonton detective.

As a result of the first stories, more confidential sources came forward with information about a secret medical report on Robertson, a report the detective himself had never been allowed to see. Chief Lindsay had used the secret document to demote Robertson on the grounds of mental incapacity. The 19-year veteran was no longer able to investigate biker gangs in the department`s Integrated Intelligence Unit. In his new position, the restrictions were so severe that Robertson was even prohibited from leaving police headquarters during his shifts. But curiously, what CBC learned was that the doctor`s report actually gave Robertson a clean bill of health; he suffered from no discernible mental disability. The report suggested the force`s problems with Robertson were not medical at all; but rather an internal, administrative issue.

As these stories generated public attention, Edmonton police and the commission that oversees the force came under pressure to deal with the allegations. In December of 1999 the RCMP investigation concluded that Chief Lindsay had done nothing wrong in his handling of the allegations. CBC went to detective Robertson. He had never spoken publicly on the allegations he had launched almost a year before. He claimed that he had never been interviewed by the special RCMP team which had taken seven months to scrutinize the Edmonton Police Service and Chief Lindsay. It turns out police relied on the written documents Robertson provided. Experts on police investigation techniques pointed out that lifeless documents are no substitute for the direct questioning of a vital witness. One of the cardinal rules of police investigations had been ignored — always interview the person who makes the allegations.

http://www.caj.ca/mediamag/summer2001/radio.html

Police board chief McConnell quits
It was always the plan, but then the union asked her to resign

Pam McConnell, chairwoman of the Toronto Police Services Board, will resign her position today, one year after she assumed the helm of the ''dysfunctional'' civilian oversight body.

The city councillor intends to resign the post at today's board meeting and nominate vice-chairman Alok Mukerjee as her replacement. Ms. McConnell will become vice-chairwoman.

Ms. McConnell is stepping down in the midst of a job action by officers over contract issues such as scheduling and retention pay. But she said her decision is unrelated to union boss Dave Wilson's persistent calls for her resignation from the board. Mr. Wilson "stated the obvious" in demanding her departure because he has known her plans for several weeks, she said.

http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:ZU7LrL8hVj8J:working.canada.com/toronto/sectors/story.html%3Fs_id%3D5FuO5tDaCbkpVmSj0Ykvn22gKUEzB7Ta6SFC%252BYMycts3rW3HPBhxkA%253D%253D+police+resignation+toronto&hl=en

Toronto is turning into a war zone right now....