Police union demands names of men who attacked officers
Alberta Serious Incident Response Team and CPS refusing to identify gunmen
Police and the public deserve to know details surrounding recent attacks on Calgary officers, says the president of the city ’s police union.
Speaking at a Thursday morning news conference, Calgary Police Association president Les Kaminski called on the Calgary Police Service and the province’s police watchdog agency to lift the veil of secrecy on the two attacks — one that sent a city officer to hospital with gunshot wounds.
“The officers directly involved deserve to know who tried to kill them,” Kaminski said, referencing the decision by both the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team and CPS to withhold the identity of those responsible for the two unrelated and unprovoked attacks.
“They can only heal and move forward in their lives once they get closure.”
On March 27, the suspect in a string of attempted Abbeydale carjackings opened fire on a pair of officers, sending Const. Jordan Forget to hospital with numerous gunshot wounds.
Less than two weeks later, a knife-wielding man attacked an undercover officer eating lunch in an unmarked police vehicle late Monday night in Bridgeland in what’s been described as a botched robbery attempt,
Both attackers died in their attempts — the Abbeydale gunman’s body was found in a burnt-out garage at the scene, while the Bridgeland attacker was fatally shot by the officer he attempted to rob.
Earlier this week, ASIRT declined a request by Postmedia to identify the Abbeydale gunman, referring to a 2015 policy signed by other Canadian police oversight commissions stating they won’t release the names of deceased “victims” for reasons of respect and privacy.
An ASIRT news release issued Thursday afternoon only described the Bridgeland attacker as a 26-year-old Calgary man, citing the aforementioned policy and consideration for “family and loved ones” in their decision to withhold the name.
The release also stated the attacker was out on bail at the time of the attack, with conditions prohibiting the possession of weapons.
“ASIRT has made the decision to not release the names of the criminals responsible for the attempted murders of these three officers,” Kaminski said
“There’s no law or legislation compelling them to withhold this information.”
Calgary police brass, Kaminski said, have chosen to follow suit in their decision to withhold releasing the identities.
“Who are they protecting?” he asked.
“If the identity has been determined, the service certainly has that information and the capacity to release details.
“This service does not take orders from ASIRT.”
A statement issued Thursday by Calgary police Chief Roger Chaffin said it wouldn’t be appropriate to interfere with ASIRT’s independent investigation, stating the agency knows “exactly what information could or could not impact the investigation.”
Chaffin also said investigations taken over by ASIRT are subject to their own policies regarding the release of information.
Releasing that information is a matter of significant public interest, Kaminski claims.
“Wouldn’t you want to know who was responsible for a shootout in your neighbourhood?” he said.
“In Abbeydale, this criminal fired high-powered rifle rounds in a residential community with no regard for public safety, putting innocent lives at risk.”
In the Bridgeland attack, the attacker chose to victimize a random citizen who just happened to be an undercover police officer, Kaminski said.
“It could have very easily been an innocent resident of that neighbourhood who he attacked, and we might be talking about a murdered Calgarian,” he said.
“If either of these criminals had survived, they’d be facing numerous serious criminal charges, and their identity would’ve been divulged with no questions asked.”
Kaminski maintains disclosure is essential for establishing accountability, referencing the shooting at a St. Albert casino in January 2015 that claimed the life of RCMP Const. David Wynn and wounded Auxiliary Const. Derek Bond.
Shawn Rehn, the 34-year-old gunman responsible for that shooting, was later found dead in his home after an apparent suicide.
“It was only in releasing that killer’s name that it was exposed that Rehn was out on parole,” Kaminski said.
“He had a long, violent criminal history — and even though he was on parole, he’d been released on bail on 15 other offences.”
Those revelations highlighted the problems surrounding the release of violent offenders by Alberta’s courts, and Kaminski said the same needs to happen regarding those responsible for the two Calgary attacks.
“Make no mistake, these are not victims,” Kaminski said.
“They were dangerous and violent offenders who attempted to murder three police officers.
“They ’re dead because of the actions that they took, not because they’re innocent victims.”