Two Transit Police officers were charged with fabricating evidence after authorities found an internal report on a takedown at Granville Station had been altered, B.C. provincial court heard today.
No one would have found the changes to the report into the takedown of 27-year-old Jordan Dyck -- which was caught on video by a bystander -- but a copy of the original report survived with the police complaints commissioner.
"There are discrepancies which have resulted in allegations of deceit [against Transit Police officers Bruce Shipley and Alfred Wong]," says a letter from Transit Police Saff Sgt. Doug Fisher to Crown counsel, which was read into the record.
"These discrepancies are not supported by the evidence and describe events that did not occur in the video."
Wong and Shipley are charged with assault, fabricating reports, statements and photographs, and causing the Transit Police to enter into an investigation by making false statements.
Jordan Dyck, 27, was assaulted and pepper sprayed during a welfare check on the steps of Granville SkyTrain Station on Feb. 9, 2012.
Officers were asked to check on a man of similar description to Dyck, but he walked away, according to authorities.
The video shows a struggle already in progress between Dyck and the officers.
"No, no, no!" Dyck can be heard to be yelling on the video.
"Get on the ground, dude, you're under arrest. Stay on the ground," one of the officers yells.
"This is assault! Assault!" Dyck responds.
The struggle continues into an area off the stairwell.
"I was sitting there minding my own business," Dyck continues.
"Chill out," one of the officers says.
The struggle continues for about a minute and a half, as long as the video runs.
The hearing did not explore precisely how the original 29-page report was changed to a 60-page report sometime in February or March of 2012.
The Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner got a copy of the original report through an automatic reporting procedure. The OPCC forwarded the report back to Crown and the officers were charged.
Lawyers for Shipley and Wong argued that the original report never should have been sent, because it was part of an internal Police Act investigation, and should not have been shared with a criminal probe.
David Butcher argued that the OPCC was displaying too much involvement in the probe, pointing to another email from Fisher to the Vancouver police criminal investigators that said, "This file's fact pattern suits breach of trust and public mischief."
The officers' lawyers are asking for more disclosure in the case.