Man claiming excessive force fights decision to clear officers

A man who alleges police used excessive force while arresting him during a 2010 drug bust is challenging a decision to clear two officers involved.

Kazimierz Kozina, who was being investigated for drug trafficking, claims officers repeatedly struck and kicked him while he lay on the sidewalk during a “buy-and-bust” raid on Feb. 11, 2010. The arrest fractured his orbital bone, said Kozina.

Const. Jack Redlick and Const. Jason Kemp were charged by the police chief with unlawful or unnecessary exercise of authority in relation to the arrest. The officers were cleared by retired Court of Queen’s Bench justice Melvyn A. Binder in July 2016 after an internal disciplinary hearing.

That month, Kozina appealed the decision to the Law Enforcement Review Board, an independent, quasi-judicial body that hears appeals from citizens and officers about police services.

The board heard arguments on the case Monday, more than 7½ years after the incident. No date has been set for a decision.

Tom Engel, Kozina’s lawyer, said there were a number of issues with the disciplinary hearing, including a failure to properly cross-examine officers about intelligence on Kozina’s alleged violent background, which they said justified the use of force.

Derek Cranna, counsel for the chief of police and presenting officer at the disciplinary hearing, said there must be evidence of “fundamental flaws” in the disciplinary process for the board to hear the case. Kozina’s complaints did not rise to that level, he said.

Another officer, Const. Craig Offin, was charged but was excused from the hearing because he resigned from the police service before it began, a Postmedia story said.

Derek Huff, a constable who resigned in 2013 because of tension with the two accused officers, told the earlier disciplinary hearing he witnessed Kozina being beaten. Binder found Huff’s evidence was unreliable and conflicted with that of several other officers.

Neither Kozina nor the officers attended the hearing at the board offices, located on the 15th floor of Oxford Tower. No date has been set for a decision.