Brittany Thiessen
Complaint against RCMP officer for using excessive force not the first one: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/complaint-against-rcmp-officer-for-using-excessive-force-not-the-first-one/article1879571/
Kelowna RCMP Constable Geoff Mantler was already under investigation for a complaint of excessive force when he allegedly kicked Buddy Tavares in the head during an arrest, police have confirmed.
Constable Mantler has been suspended with pay and is facing a possible assault charge in connection with the Jan. 7 incident involving Mr. Tavares, which was videotaped.
On Friday, RCMP spokeswoman Corporal Annie Linteau confirmed that a RCMP investigator is looking into a complaint from Jeremy Packer of Kelowna, who says he was repossessing a boat for non-payment on Aug. 10 when he was pulled over by officers on suspicion of stealing it.
He told The Globe and Mail that, with guns drawn, RCMP officers pulled him out of his truck, and that even though he did not resist, one “punched me in the head.”
Mr. Packer alleged that the same officer gave him two more punches when he was on the ground being handcuffed.
“I had a road rash abrasion on my right eye, and also a black eye swollen up, and a broken back tooth,” he said.
Mr. Packer filed a complaint on Nov. 1. In a letter to Mr. Packer dated Jan. 14 that he provided to The Globe and Mail, an RCMP inspector identifies the officer involved as Constable Mantler.
Cpl. Linteau said Constable Mantler wasn’t suspended over the earlier incident because “the allegations have to be investigated and substantiated before that kind of action is taken and of course, the time delay in reporting certainly adds certain challenges to our investigators.”
There was also no video recording.
“Having a video of the incident is certainly beneficial to our investigators as well,” said Cpl. Linteau. “You know exactly what it is that happened. Of course, you still have to investigate all the circumstances surrounding the video footage, but certainly it’s a valuable piece of evidence.”
Unlike the situation with Mr. Tavares, Constable Mantler has not faced a criminal investigation by an outside police force for the allegations involving Mr. Packer.
“Now, it’s always possible that an outside police force could investigate that, but at this point, it’s an internal matter,” said Cpl. Linteau.
The Abbotsford Police Department has recommended Constable Mantler be charged with assault causing bodily harm for the incident with Mr. Tavares. Crown prosecutors will decide whether to proceed.
Cpl. Linteau said she couldn’t comment on whether there are other complaints against Constable Mantler.
“These two situations here are very unusual with extraordinary circumstances,” she said. “Usually, we do not discuss allegations in the public domain until the police officer has been formally charged.”
Mr. Packer said he waited until his legal situation was cleared up before filing a complaint. Police laid a charge of theft over $5,000, and dropped it on Sept. 30, he said.
The RCMP has a systemic problem when it comes to dealing with allegations of excessive force by its officers, said David Eby, executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association.
“It’s not a surprise that there’s other allegations involving the same officer, because often there is a pattern of allegations and the RCMP has not done a great job of identifying, counselling and intercepting officers that are having difficulty on the job.”
Mr. Eby would also like to see an end to the practice of police investigating allegations of misconduct by other officers.
“The issue that we often find is that unless the incident is captured on video, or unless there’s a police officer witness who’s providing evidence against a fellow officer, in serious cases of misconduct, it’s very difficult to have a complaint that is substantiated or found to be true,” he said.
BC Mountie facing second brutality complaint: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Mountie+facing+second+brutality+complaint/4147335/story.html
Another British Columbia resident has filed a police-brutality complaint against Kelowna RCMP Const. Geoff Mantler.
Mantler is already facing possible criminal charges in another incident after a man was kicked in the head during an arrest this month.
RCMP have now revealed that Mantler has also been accused of brutality in another case.
In the newly surfaced incident, Kelowna resident Jeremy Packer claimed that he was punched repeatedly by a Mountie in August 2010.
Packer, who was working for Tru North Marine, was towing a boat across the Bennett Bridge when he was stopped by police.
RCMP had received a complaint that Packer was stealing the boat, but he said he was re-possessing it for nonpayment of a repair bill.
He said the officers had their guns drawn and told him to put his hands up in the air.
Packer alleges an officer then ripped the door open, pulled him out of the truck and down to the ground, and punched him several times in the face.
He said he did not resist arrest and was not attempting to flee.
He filed a formal complaint against the RCMP in November about the incident.
A written response from a senior Mountie revealed Mantler was the officer involved in the altercation.
Meanwhile, police Abbotsford, B.C., police are recommending Mantler be charged with assault causing bodily harm in the January attack on Buddy Tavares, which was caught on video by a journalist.
The 51-year-old was arrested after police responded to a call about gunshots at Harvest Golf Course in Kelowna, where Tavares had previously worked.
Tavares was charged with careless use of a firearm “in relation to a domestic violence situation that is still under investigation,” RCMP said.
Mantler has been suspended from duty with pay until further notice.
Mantler made national headlines in early January after a video appeared to show him kicking Kelowna golf course employee Buddy Tavares during an arrest. The video was shot by a bystander across the street from the incident.
Officers with the Abbotsford Police Department, which is investigating Mantler in connection with the incident, have recommended the B.C. Crown proceed with charges.
Packer claims Mantler assaulted him in August 2010.
“It was one cop that just kept on punching me. He kept on punching me in the face,” said Packer.
RCMP investigating complaint
Packer was towing a boat he had just repossessed in Kelowna for his company when police officers stopped him, believing the boat was stolen. Packer said officers, with guns drawn, ordered him out of his truck. He claims one officer started punching him when his seatbelt became stuck and he could not immediately comply with the order..
“I was like, whoa, can you stop? I had pretty well given myself up and he kept on telling me not to run and I’m like, ‘I’m not running, you guys have me on the ground,'” Packer said. “This guy’s a little aggressive, I think, especially when people are surrendering themselves.”
Packer filed a formal complaint several weeks later, and said he recently received a letter back from the RCMP in response to his complaint saying the officer involved was Mantler.
RCMP spokesperson Annie Linteau said action is being taken on Packer’s complaint.
“We received the complaint three months after the incident actually happened. Upon receiving the complaint, we did initiate an investigation, and that investigation is ongoing.
Linteau wouldn’t say if the investigation into Packer’s complaint is an internal investigation or a criminal one.
Mantler joined the Kelowna detachment in July 2007 immediately after graduating from the force’s training academy. The officer has been suspended with pay pending the completion of the investigation into the Tavares incident.
Re: Mountie may face assault charge for kick to face, Jan. 17
I was horrified to see the news footage of the Kelowna Mountie kicking a defenceless man in the face.
This Mountie should of course be charged with assault causing bodily harm for that vicious, unprovoked attack.
But to me there is a greater issue that the current laws do not seem to address.
Buddy Tavares was a civilian who never would have pulled over his truck and got down on the ground on all fours, putting himself in that vulnerable position, if anyone other than an officer of the law had ordered him to. But Buddy didn’t have a choice.
This was a legal if somewhat excessive police pullover until the point where the cop’s boot met Buddy’s face.
The law requires us to obey a police order so, in a case like this, the law should provide accountability with a separate charge of breach of trust or abuse of power in addition to assault. Buddy was forced by the law to put himself in a defenceless position.
I urge Parliament to revamp the laws to provide greater protection from abuse of police power. Those who we endow with so much power should be held to a higher level of accountability.
The incident was captured on video and posted on the Internet, showing what appears to be an unprovoked boot to the face of Tavares, sparking a protest and public outrage over the Mountie’s paid suspension,
And now new allegations from another Kelowna man have surfaced.
Mantler is identified in a formal complaint lodged by Jeremy Packer, who claims he was brutalized during his arrest on Aug. 10 over allegations of theft.
The letter to Packer from Kelowna RCMP detachment, a copy of which was obtained by the QMI Agency, outlines Packer’s beef stating he was taken out of his truck at gunpoint and punched in the head twice, despite cooperating during an arrest Packer claims was not warranted.
RCMP, including Mantler, were responding to a complaint that Packer had stolen a boat and had set up a road block on a Kelowna bridge.
Packer, who works for a local RV and boat company, said he was repossessing the boat as ordered by his boss after a client had failed to make payments for repairs on the vessel.
The file, according to the letter dated Jan. 14, is being reviewed by the RCMP’s Professional Standards unit in Kelowna and notes “the officers have been identified and you can expect to receive further correspondence.”
“I thought I was just doing my job,” Packer, who filed his complaint in November, told QMI Agency.
Packer, who suffered a black eye, abrasions and a broken tooth during the arrest, said the incident has shaken his confidence in Canada’s revered police force.
He has also joined a growing chorus of area residents calling for Mantler’s dismissal.
“It just shocked the hell out of me,” Packer said.
“I figured he was having a bad day, but apparently he’s on a power trip and I don’t think he should be going around treating people like that.
“Your supposed to look up to these guys.”
Repeated calls to RCMP were not returned Thursday night.
Geoff Mantler of the Kelowna RCMP should be fired and put in jail: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Geoff-Mantler-of-the-Kelowna-RCMP-should-be-fired-and-put-in-jail/156307917752200
Winnipeg Activism 