Fatal police shooting draws fire from expert
Ytzhak | 15.02.2005 04:00 | Anti-racism | Social Struggles
Gerald Chenery, a Nisga'a, was hit with a dozen bullets fired by two constables that had less than a year on the job.
Fatal police shooting draws fire from 'expert'
Last Updated Feb 14 2005 10:21 AM PST
CBC News
VANCOUVER – A former combat and tactical instructor is highly critical of the shooting of a knife-wielding man on Boxing Day in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside by two rookie police officers.
Gerald Chenery, 29, was hit with a dozen bullets fired by the two constables after he lunged at them with two knives. Both officers had less than a year on the job.
Allan Chad, who says he trained members of the Vancouver Police Emergency Response Team for three years, says police should not have drawn their guns.
He says that after reviewing police accounts of the incident, he believes the two officers did not have enough experience to defuse the situation
"There's things we've got called batons and pepper spray. It's a situation of experience. There is no substitution for experience," he says.
"These two officers are a year out of the academy. They've had very little training in situations like this. They should have backed off. "
Chad has filed a sworn affidaviit with the Pivot Legal Society, which has been critical of police actions in the city's Downtown Eastside.
Police have said inexperience was not a factor – that the officers were in a life and death situation when Chenery, who was later found to have cocaine in his system, came at them with two knives.
Police discount critics
At Monday's police press briefing, spokesperson Const. Anne Drennan said Chad is no expert, and has never been employed by the police department.
She said two officers, who were members of the Emergency Response Team, took a "personal class in street fighting with Mr. Chad" in the 1990s – which was his only relationship with Vancouver police..
And she also blasted John Richardson – the head of the Pivot Legal Society – accusing him of dedicating his career to criticism of Vancouver police.
"We understand that Mr. Richardson has to make a living, and we understand that some lawyers find it unethical to advertise. But we wish that Mr. Richardson would find a way to raise his profile without using the police as his personal stepping stones."
Drennan is also critical of the media. She says regardless of how outrageous Richardson's comments are, they're reported without independent verification.
Meanwhile, a police investigation of the fatal incident is ongoing.
Police Shooting Deaths of Aboriginal Men Heighten Tensions (Feb. 8, 2005):
http://thunderbay.indymedia.org/news/2005/02/18423.php
Last Updated Feb 14 2005 10:21 AM PST
CBC News
VANCOUVER – A former combat and tactical instructor is highly critical of the shooting of a knife-wielding man on Boxing Day in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside by two rookie police officers.
Gerald Chenery, 29, was hit with a dozen bullets fired by the two constables after he lunged at them with two knives. Both officers had less than a year on the job.
Allan Chad, who says he trained members of the Vancouver Police Emergency Response Team for three years, says police should not have drawn their guns.
He says that after reviewing police accounts of the incident, he believes the two officers did not have enough experience to defuse the situation
"There's things we've got called batons and pepper spray. It's a situation of experience. There is no substitution for experience," he says.
"These two officers are a year out of the academy. They've had very little training in situations like this. They should have backed off. "
Chad has filed a sworn affidaviit with the Pivot Legal Society, which has been critical of police actions in the city's Downtown Eastside.
Police have said inexperience was not a factor – that the officers were in a life and death situation when Chenery, who was later found to have cocaine in his system, came at them with two knives.
Police discount critics
At Monday's police press briefing, spokesperson Const. Anne Drennan said Chad is no expert, and has never been employed by the police department.
She said two officers, who were members of the Emergency Response Team, took a "personal class in street fighting with Mr. Chad" in the 1990s – which was his only relationship with Vancouver police..
And she also blasted John Richardson – the head of the Pivot Legal Society – accusing him of dedicating his career to criticism of Vancouver police.
"We understand that Mr. Richardson has to make a living, and we understand that some lawyers find it unethical to advertise. But we wish that Mr. Richardson would find a way to raise his profile without using the police as his personal stepping stones."
Drennan is also critical of the media. She says regardless of how outrageous Richardson's comments are, they're reported without independent verification.
Meanwhile, a police investigation of the fatal incident is ongoing.
Police Shooting Deaths of Aboriginal Men Heighten Tensions (Feb. 8, 2005):
http://thunderbay.indymedia.org/news/2005/02/18423.php
Ytzhak
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