City police union boss charged with assault
Two Calgary police officers, including Calgary Police Association president Les Kaminski, have been charged with assault in connection with a traffic stop in 2008.
Following an investigation by the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT), Kaminski and Const. Brant Derrick face charges stemming from the arrest of Hells Angels member Jason Arkinstall during a downtown traffic stop on Aug. 31, 2008.
“Taking into account the evidence as a whole, having consulted with the Crown and received its opinion, and there being reasonable grounds to believe that an offence has been committed, two members of the Calgary Police Service have been charged,” ASIRT executive director Susan Hughson said at a news conference. Hughson said ASIRT was directed to launch an investigation on Feb. 7, 2014, in relation to the 2008 arrest and a trial that concluded in January 2011.
The file was forwarded by ASIRT to the Crown in June 2016.
Arkinstall had initially been charged with obstructing police, assaulting a police officer and uttering threats, but he was acquitted in a 2011 decision by provincial court Judge Terry Semenuk.
Semenuk wrote in his decision that Kaminski provided evidence in court that was “unreliable and not credible.”
Following Arkinstall’s acquittal, the Calgary Criminal Defence Lawyers Association called on ASIRT to look into allegations the officers involved, including Kaminski, used excessive force during the arrest and lied about it in court.
Hughson called the delay in the case “really unfortunate.”
“The fact is, however, the majority of the delay occurred before ASIRT was directed to investigate,” she said.
“Our investigation was complicated by difficulties in locating and gaining access to a critical witness who was initially in custody in Spain and was only deported back to Canada in July of 2015.”
Supt. Steve Barlow with the Calgary police said the service conducted an internal review of the file following the 2011 court decision, but a determination was made at the time that a formal investigation was not required.
“In light of the Crown’s findings, and in hindsight, the service should have conducted a formal investigation at the time,” he said.
Barlow said a complaint was filed in December 2013 and was referred to ASIRT at the beginning of 2014.
Kaminski now faces one count of assault with a weapon and one count of perjury.
Derrick faces one count of assault causing bodily harm.
Both have been released with conditions and are scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 7.
Hughson said Kaminski was aware he was under investigation “for some time,” and noted ASIRT was aware that it was going to be in a position to lay charges in this case before last week. Kaminski, who was recently elected as the head of the union, held his first news conference as CPA president on Jan. 11.
“The decision was made weeks ago, but there was a need for us to have further discussions with the Crown and to make the necessary operational requirements to do what we have to do when we charge a police officer,” Hughson said, adding ASIRT was not in a position to make arrests before Tuesday.
Postmedia sources say Kaminski is refusing to step aside as union boss while the charges are dealt with.
The sources say it’s possible CPA members may call a special meeting and hold a vote on Kaminski keeping his position.
“If they voted against him, it would be a vote of non-confidence and he would be obligated to step down,” said a source.
Diane Colley-Urquhart, who sits on the Calgary police commission, said she’s known Kaminski since the early 1990s and is troubled by charges being laid nearly a decade after the incident.
“He’s had a long, 30-year track record of not getting into any trouble at all and now he’s dealing with an incident that happened nine years ago,” she said.
Colley-Urquhart declined to say whether Kaminski should step down from his post, noting that’s a matter to be hashed out between the police executive and the union. However, she added she believes Kaminski and Derrick should be considered innocent until proven guilty.
Brian Thiessen, the chair of the Calgary police commission, said from the commission’s perspective, the criminal charges “do not reflect the vast majority of highly professional and dedicated CPS members who work hard to preserve the safety of our city.”