The Yao Wei Wu verdict:
Anyone surprised?

An innocent man answers a 2 a.m. knock at the door
only to get a shit-kicking from two Vancouver cops.
A police investigation clears them. As a result, cops now
have more power than ever to beat people up

Nov. 3, 2010

 

It was a typical cop-on-cop investigation. Police investigators gave the accused officers preferential treatment and rejected statements made by the victim. The whole thing dragged on much longer than necessary. And, not surprisingly, Delta police have cleared Vancouver police officers Nicholas Florkow and Bryan London of beating up Yao Wei Wu.

Here’s an excerpt from the Vancouver Province:

“This investigation was a farce,” [lawyer Cameron Ward] said. “It provides yet another example why police should not be investigating other police. It took Delta investigators more than nine months to investigate a brief incident in which the identities of those involved were immediately known.”

Ward said investigators refused to believe his client about the series of events on Jan. 21, 2010.

“In the end, the investigators chose to disbelieve Mr. Wu’s account of what happened to him, though he had no reason to lie. The investigators accepted the story of the two VPD members at face value, even though it is patently ridiculous and incredible.

“The police-complaints process in British Columbia does a disservice to law-abiding citizens like Mr. Wu.”

The Vancouver Sun added some details about the investigation:

Ward said the investigation report shows that while his client was interviewed by police for more than an hour and a half the day after the beating and for another hour and a half at a later date, Delta police didn’t get around to interviewing the two officers involved until May 12, nearly four months later.

According to Ward, the interviews with Florkow and London, held in the presence of Vancouver Police Union president Tom Stamatakis, lasted just 51 and 37 minutes respectively.

Apart from a glaring injustice in this case, the verdict has very scary, far-reaching implications. The decision makes it easier than ever for police to beat people up. Once again, the violent thugs who poison almost every police force with their presence know that other cops will excuse, rationalize or cover up for their viciousness.

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