Monday, June 23, 2008
Mayor claims hands tied on Battershill file
.
Here's the latest non-news report on former Victoria Police Chief Paul Battershill (who will undoubtedly be a Crown witness at the Basi Virk Trial). The Province published nothing about it today. Vancouver Sun published only the first 3 paragraphs of Rob Shaw's report. This longer version is from Times Colonist but still says virtually nothing while "suggesting" a lot. The private opinion of a seasoned newsman leads me to believe that there's not much to worry about, even if Battershill's whole file were to be fully opened today. Put on your political hat, and it figures, don't you think? - BC Mary.
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MAYOR CLAIMS HANDS TIED ON BATTERSHILL FILE.
Regulations delay action in police chief's suspension
Rob Shaw
Times Colonist - Monday, June 23, 2008
Victoria's mayor says he understands the growing sense of frustration in the community as the case of suspended police chief Paul Battershill continues to drag on without an end in sight.
"Of course, there is frustration because people want to know what's happening and people want to know what the issues are, or to bring conclusion to this," Alan Lowe said yesterday.
"The thing here is I have to follow a process outlined by the OPCC [Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner] and the [Police] Act."
That complex process no longer has any concrete deadlines. Although Lowe had hoped to meet Battershill for a "disciplinary hearing" into the matter by now, he said it may be another 30 days, or more, before that occurs and the case potentially closes.
{Snip} ...
Under the elaborate Police Act rules, just because Battershill faces a disciplinary hearing does not mean he will be disciplined. The range of discipline options begins at no discipline at all. Other options, depending on what allegations might be substantiated, include verbal or written reprimand, counselling, training, suspension, transfer, reduction of rank and dismissal.
Police Act investigations are not public and are exempt from provincial Freedom of Information rules. The full report on Battershill is not expected to be released. Lowe has said he would release whatever information his lawyers said he could.
The Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner, which is overseeing the entire case, may also call a public hearing or order another investigation if it has concerns. Deputy commissioner Bruce Brown said the Battershill case is "moving forward" as lawyers negotiate future meetings.
rfshaw@tc.canwest.com
http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=d1af26ec-f465-4c44-b753-a3fd0b06d78b
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Here's the latest non-news report on former Victoria Police Chief Paul Battershill (who will undoubtedly be a Crown witness at the Basi Virk Trial). The Province published nothing about it today. Vancouver Sun published only the first 3 paragraphs of Rob Shaw's report. This longer version is from Times Colonist but still says virtually nothing while "suggesting" a lot. The private opinion of a seasoned newsman leads me to believe that there's not much to worry about, even if Battershill's whole file were to be fully opened today. Put on your political hat, and it figures, don't you think? - BC Mary.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MAYOR CLAIMS HANDS TIED ON BATTERSHILL FILE.
Regulations delay action in police chief's suspension
Rob Shaw
Times Colonist - Monday, June 23, 2008
Victoria's mayor says he understands the growing sense of frustration in the community as the case of suspended police chief Paul Battershill continues to drag on without an end in sight.
"Of course, there is frustration because people want to know what's happening and people want to know what the issues are, or to bring conclusion to this," Alan Lowe said yesterday.
"The thing here is I have to follow a process outlined by the OPCC [Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner] and the [Police] Act."
That complex process no longer has any concrete deadlines. Although Lowe had hoped to meet Battershill for a "disciplinary hearing" into the matter by now, he said it may be another 30 days, or more, before that occurs and the case potentially closes.
{Snip} ...
Under the elaborate Police Act rules, just because Battershill faces a disciplinary hearing does not mean he will be disciplined. The range of discipline options begins at no discipline at all. Other options, depending on what allegations might be substantiated, include verbal or written reprimand, counselling, training, suspension, transfer, reduction of rank and dismissal.
Police Act investigations are not public and are exempt from provincial Freedom of Information rules. The full report on Battershill is not expected to be released. Lowe has said he would release whatever information his lawyers said he could.
The Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner, which is overseeing the entire case, may also call a public hearing or order another investigation if it has concerns. Deputy commissioner Bruce Brown said the Battershill case is "moving forward" as lawyers negotiate future meetings.
rfshaw@tc.canwest.com
http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=d1af26ec-f465-4c44-b753-a3fd0b06d78b
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Comments:
<< Home
With the removal two top authoritians, sol/gen and the chief of Victoria police... isn't this what organised crimsters do?
# posted by 
: June 23, 2008 at 11:42 a.m.
: June 23, 2008 at 11:42 a.m.
"Regulations delay action in police chief's suspension"
Rob Shaw makes this statement in his column. But if you read the column, particularly the piece that was snipped, you can see that the Mayor is apparently trying to put the ball in Battershills' court.
"The RCMP investigated Battershill and submitted a report to Lowe in April. Battershill received a summary May 8. Shortly after, Lowe said he hoped to schedule a disciplinary hearing with the chief in the next 30 days."
[Instead, Battershill requested more information from investigators, which is his right under the Police Act, Lowe said. "That delayed the process," he said.] I submit that if he was given all of the information (not just the spin) in the first place he wouldn't have to request more information. So I alledge that it is the RCMP and the board that have been dragging their collective asses.
Rob Shaw makes this statement in his column. But if you read the column, particularly the piece that was snipped, you can see that the Mayor is apparently trying to put the ball in Battershills' court.
"The RCMP investigated Battershill and submitted a report to Lowe in April. Battershill received a summary May 8. Shortly after, Lowe said he hoped to schedule a disciplinary hearing with the chief in the next 30 days."
[Instead, Battershill requested more information from investigators, which is his right under the Police Act, Lowe said. "That delayed the process," he said.] I submit that if he was given all of the information (not just the spin) in the first place he wouldn't have to request more information. So I alledge that it is the RCMP and the board that have been dragging their collective asses.
Why not email the Mayor and ask him about the delay. I did a few days ago and his reply seemed pretty clear to me. There would be a public enquiry if warranted but not unless certain things happened. The Mayor lists a number of options from doing nothing. The Chief has asked for more information which is reasonable in my view. I'm sure the Mayor is looking for completion of the review.
# posted by : June 23, 2008 at 8:16 p.m.
: June 23, 2008 at 8:16 p.m.
Gary E sounds right, if he got everything in May then why would he ask for more. Those earlier comments that there isn't much there are sounding right. The real question is why this happened and how it was and is being handled...this whole thing is sounding weirder and weirder...
# posted by : June 23, 2008 at 9:00 p.m.
: June 23, 2008 at 9:00 p.m.
.
Anonymous 8:16,
Do you have an e.mail address for Alan Lowe?
Anonymous 9:00,
Would you say that Battershill is caught up in a mini-Legigate operation where delays are being caused by sloppy disclosure ... ?
He was suspended on October 11, 2007 over "a personnel issue".
Does it really take 8 months to look into "a personnel issue"? ... or is somebody messing around, trying to influence political perception, for some reason?
.
Anonymous 8:16,
Do you have an e.mail address for Alan Lowe?
Anonymous 9:00,
Would you say that Battershill is caught up in a mini-Legigate operation where delays are being caused by sloppy disclosure ... ?
He was suspended on October 11, 2007 over "a personnel issue".
Does it really take 8 months to look into "a personnel issue"? ... or is somebody messing around, trying to influence political perception, for some reason?
.
Mary . . .I believe somebody IS messing around with Battershill since he was one of the lead Officers on the Raid of the Leg. The Chief holds a lot of truthful information surrounding this case; thus, he could be viewed as dangerous to the guilty, high profile persons involved in Govt 'goo'.
Targeting him at this time, could be in part, an attempt to discredit or send a not so subtle message to him prior to his scheduled testimony . . . if by some miracle, the trial finds its way onto the tracks in BC Supreme Court.
As far as I am concerned, I believe your views are correct about Battershill being targeted for all the wrong reasons.
Targeting him at this time, could be in part, an attempt to discredit or send a not so subtle message to him prior to his scheduled testimony . . . if by some miracle, the trial finds its way onto the tracks in BC Supreme Court.
As far as I am concerned, I believe your views are correct about Battershill being targeted for all the wrong reasons.
# posted by : June 23, 2008 at 11:25 p.m.
: June 23, 2008 at 11:25 p.m.
Anonymous 8:16
Why would the Mayor say "do nothing" was an option if it was serious, it doesn't make sense.
Why would the Mayor say "do nothing" was an option if it was serious, it doesn't make sense.
# posted by : June 24, 2008 at 5:38 a.m.
: June 24, 2008 at 5:38 a.m.
Overwhelmed with information.
BC Mary asks the question "Does it really take 8 months to look into "a personnel issue"?
My daily "rounds" start off with BC Mary, then Bill Tieleman and then I drift back to my roots, North Van (where they wear horse blinders to only focus on north vancouver issues... the rest of bc doesn't exist). Then I go down the list of BC Mary's links. For example, Pacific Gazetteer had "RailGate Revisited - Hansard's Revenge, The Prequel" which led me to Andrew Thomas Cowan and his status as an "Informant"...... he along with Harriman, Chouinard, Reece, Clarke, Hartwig, Gresham, Callens were all involved in Everywhichway which started off the BC Rail breach of trust charges involving Basi\Virk.
I've got to tell you, I'm a relatively newcomer to this blog topic, and all the other blogs which are joined at the hip on the same subject matter.
BC Mary has this great huge long list of archived Posts and I just don't have the time to look through a data base that goes back almost five years. Thanks to BC Mary I may search for keywords, but what are those keywords. The
names listed above were the RCMP officers that stormed our legislative buildings, along with the Victoria's Battershill police forces. How do all these "items" tie together? How does a Ken Dobell, as Cabinet Secretary, as a Deputy Premier, think he has a free rein to determine which documents are for the Courts to see or should be hidden by Cabinet privilege from public view, and why should he appear ???? to have passed along to the premier, and his fellow cabinet ministers, which documents that the Special Prosecutor and the RCMP are interested in, specifically?
We live in the Worl Wide Web; we communicate via the www; and yet there is no one place on the internet that takes all of the archived data, all of the comments written by blogger Bill Tieleman et al; that gives a clear indication of why the BC Liberals didn't stick with their election promise of not selling BC Rail. If they had, we wouldn't be spending hours of time writing about Wally Opall repeatedly saying "No Comment".
In regards to David Basi being charged, RCMP Cst. Cowan's statement as an Informant is very concise, very enlightening, even with parts of it heavily censored with black ink. There are several other statements made by the same officers on others who are involved in the BC Rail breach of trust which is before the courts. He's even included Frank ...oops... Erik Bornman(n) and Brian Kieran of Pilothouse where they paid out $30,000 (twice???) indirectly to two of those named in the corruption charges.
To answer BC Mary's question if it really takes 8 months, well, "Yes, it does". As of April 30th of this year, the RCMP were into a 9 month background check on their boss, former Solicitor-General John Les, and the meter is still running almost two months later without even a whisper of a result being announced.
The "$64,000 question" is not so much as who reimbursed the singular VISA account for the plane tickets so that the Basi/Virk husband and wife teams could fly down to Denver to sit beside track Executives who were busy lobbying their favours via Bornman(n) and Kieran.....What I would like to know is what was the score at the football game and were they betting on a rigged sport.
BC Mary asks the question "Does it really take 8 months to look into "a personnel issue"?
My daily "rounds" start off with BC Mary, then Bill Tieleman and then I drift back to my roots, North Van (where they wear horse blinders to only focus on north vancouver issues... the rest of bc doesn't exist). Then I go down the list of BC Mary's links. For example, Pacific Gazetteer had "RailGate Revisited - Hansard's Revenge, The Prequel" which led me to Andrew Thomas Cowan and his status as an "Informant"...... he along with Harriman, Chouinard, Reece, Clarke, Hartwig, Gresham, Callens were all involved in Everywhichway which started off the BC Rail breach of trust charges involving Basi\Virk.
I've got to tell you, I'm a relatively newcomer to this blog topic, and all the other blogs which are joined at the hip on the same subject matter.
BC Mary has this great huge long list of archived Posts and I just don't have the time to look through a data base that goes back almost five years. Thanks to BC Mary I may search for keywords, but what are those keywords. The
names listed above were the RCMP officers that stormed our legislative buildings, along with the Victoria's Battershill police forces. How do all these "items" tie together? How does a Ken Dobell, as Cabinet Secretary, as a Deputy Premier, think he has a free rein to determine which documents are for the Courts to see or should be hidden by Cabinet privilege from public view, and why should he appear ???? to have passed along to the premier, and his fellow cabinet ministers, which documents that the Special Prosecutor and the RCMP are interested in, specifically?
We live in the Worl Wide Web; we communicate via the www; and yet there is no one place on the internet that takes all of the archived data, all of the comments written by blogger Bill Tieleman et al; that gives a clear indication of why the BC Liberals didn't stick with their election promise of not selling BC Rail. If they had, we wouldn't be spending hours of time writing about Wally Opall repeatedly saying "No Comment".
In regards to David Basi being charged, RCMP Cst. Cowan's statement as an Informant is very concise, very enlightening, even with parts of it heavily censored with black ink. There are several other statements made by the same officers on others who are involved in the BC Rail breach of trust which is before the courts. He's even included Frank ...oops... Erik Bornman(n) and Brian Kieran of Pilothouse where they paid out $30,000 (twice???) indirectly to two of those named in the corruption charges.
To answer BC Mary's question if it really takes 8 months, well, "Yes, it does". As of April 30th of this year, the RCMP were into a 9 month background check on their boss, former Solicitor-General John Les, and the meter is still running almost two months later without even a whisper of a result being announced.
The "$64,000 question" is not so much as who reimbursed the singular VISA account for the plane tickets so that the Basi/Virk husband and wife teams could fly down to Denver to sit beside track Executives who were busy lobbying their favours via Bornman(n) and Kieran.....What I would like to know is what was the score at the football game and were they betting on a rigged sport.
# posted by : June 24, 2008 at 7:35 a.m.
: June 24, 2008 at 7:35 a.m.
.
North Van's Grumps,
Every blogger should be so lucky as to have Commentors like you! Thank you immensely, especially for your encouraging words.
If you don't mind, I'm going to re-post your comment on the main page.
BC Mary gently requests, however, that you re-visit one segment of your comment, namely, the part about Paul Battershill. I must repeat: I have never met Battershill, he is not my cousin or my brother-in-law. But the fact is that his career stands up outstandingly well to scrutiny; he can't imo be compared right across the board to lobbyists or political hires, as you are suggesting here.
And so my question: does it really take 8 months to check out a genuine PERSONNEL issue? A personnel issue being quite unlike a POLITICAL, or a potentially CRIMINAL issue.
I really don't think it takes 8 months. I think we're watching the Berardino Plan repeated: delay, delay.
I think 30 days max. would've revealed "the personnel issue", if any. I've started to believe that the other 7 months is intended to allow for the build-up of this un-subtle brown cloud of innuendo. Is it a fair guess?
Because, if I'm correct, we're guilty of sitting with folded hands watching an excellent police officer being hounded, wounded, and knocked out of contention. How Mugabe is that.
Promise me, NVG, you won't be annoyed by my question -- as your contribution is so wonderfully welcome.
Because: if I am correct, Paul Battershill is exactly the calibre of police officer we so desperately need. OK?
...............................................................................
North Van's Grumps,
Every blogger should be so lucky as to have Commentors like you! Thank you immensely, especially for your encouraging words.
If you don't mind, I'm going to re-post your comment on the main page.
BC Mary gently requests, however, that you re-visit one segment of your comment, namely, the part about Paul Battershill. I must repeat: I have never met Battershill, he is not my cousin or my brother-in-law. But the fact is that his career stands up outstandingly well to scrutiny; he can't imo be compared right across the board to lobbyists or political hires, as you are suggesting here.
And so my question: does it really take 8 months to check out a genuine PERSONNEL issue? A personnel issue being quite unlike a POLITICAL, or a potentially CRIMINAL issue.
I really don't think it takes 8 months. I think we're watching the Berardino Plan repeated: delay, delay.
I think 30 days max. would've revealed "the personnel issue", if any. I've started to believe that the other 7 months is intended to allow for the build-up of this un-subtle brown cloud of innuendo. Is it a fair guess?
Because, if I'm correct, we're guilty of sitting with folded hands watching an excellent police officer being hounded, wounded, and knocked out of contention. How Mugabe is that.
Promise me, NVG, you won't be annoyed by my question -- as your contribution is so wonderfully welcome.
Because: if I am correct, Paul Battershill is exactly the calibre of police officer we so desperately need. OK?
...............................................................................
Welcome, North Van Grumps! You are a great new addition to Mary's think tank.
Speaking of being "joined at the hip". . .
Careful, cross comparison of persons with their claws in scandals over the past few years yields a common denominator: the same circle of bandits "joined at the hip" working in unison for their best interests.
We, the people, are not without immense power in the face of broken systems of justice.
It DOES take determined 'dumpster diving' to obtain the truth in the face of delay, dither, deny and when all else fails, dismiss with continued coverup of the facts.
None of us who 'get it' must be deterred because then 'they' win.
Sharing/discussing information via the internet is a wonderful tool to out the truth and paint the bigger picture of what is REALLY going on in cesspool.
I believe the problem with the systems is at the top re: the BC Supreme Courts, the politicians/senior bureaucratic mandarins and the police.
Empathy for the police officers who do their diligence on these highly politically tainted files, only to find their work being sidelined by their superiors connected to the circle? Yes, but how long do they maintain silence in the face of broken systems? A trial would go a long way to allowing their voices to be heard; Officers such as: Battershill, DeBruyckere, Bishop, Cowan et al . . .
What facts/linkages and at what depth into shadowy areas do they hold knowledge of involving these various files on alleged corruption?
Round & round we go until the circle breaks under the weight of their own deceit via 'people power' armed with the truth.
Speaking of being "joined at the hip". . .
Careful, cross comparison of persons with their claws in scandals over the past few years yields a common denominator: the same circle of bandits "joined at the hip" working in unison for their best interests.
We, the people, are not without immense power in the face of broken systems of justice.
It DOES take determined 'dumpster diving' to obtain the truth in the face of delay, dither, deny and when all else fails, dismiss with continued coverup of the facts.
None of us who 'get it' must be deterred because then 'they' win.
Sharing/discussing information via the internet is a wonderful tool to out the truth and paint the bigger picture of what is REALLY going on in cesspool.
I believe the problem with the systems is at the top re: the BC Supreme Courts, the politicians/senior bureaucratic mandarins and the police.
Empathy for the police officers who do their diligence on these highly politically tainted files, only to find their work being sidelined by their superiors connected to the circle? Yes, but how long do they maintain silence in the face of broken systems? A trial would go a long way to allowing their voices to be heard; Officers such as: Battershill, DeBruyckere, Bishop, Cowan et al . . .
What facts/linkages and at what depth into shadowy areas do they hold knowledge of involving these various files on alleged corruption?
Round & round we go until the circle breaks under the weight of their own deceit via 'people power' armed with the truth.
# posted by : June 24, 2008 at 12:39 p.m.
: June 24, 2008 at 12:39 p.m.
You asked for The Victoria Mayors address. Google Victoria City and it points the way to the Mayor. He answers raher quicly. I chose not to copy his email as it was sent to me, but I'm sure he will respond. He does have legal council
Post a Comment
# posted by : June 24, 2008 at 3:53 p.m.
: June 24, 2008 at 3:53 p.m. << Home
Overwhelmed with information.
BC Mary asks the question "Does it really take 8 months to look into "a personnel issue"?
My daily "rounds" start off with BC Mary, then Bill Tieleman and then I drift back to my roots, North Van (where they wear horse blinders to only focus on north vancouver issues... the rest of bc doesn't exist). Then I go down the list of BC Mary's links. For example, Pacific Gazetteer had "RailGate Revisited - Hansard's Revenge, The Prequel" which led me to Andrew Thomas Cowan and his status as an "Informant"...... he along with Harriman, Chouinard, Reece, Clarke, Hartwig, Gresham, Callens were all involved in Everywhichway which started off the BC Rail breach of trust charges involving Basi\Virk.
I've got to tell you, I'm a relatively newcomer to this blog topic, and all the other blogs which are joined at the hip on the same subject matter.
BC Mary has this great huge long list of archived Posts and I just don't have the time to look through a data base that goes back almost five years. Thanks to BC Mary I may search for keywords, but what are those keywords.
The names listed above were the RCMP officers that stormed our legislative buildings, along with the Victoria's Battershill police forces. How do all these "items" tie together? How does a Ken Dobell, as Cabinet Secretary, as a Deputy Premier, think he has a free rein to determine which documents are for the Courts to see or should be hidden by Cabinet privilege from public view, and why should he appear ???? to have passed along to the premier, and his fellow cabinet ministers, which documents that the Special Prosecutor and the RCMP are interested in, specifically?
We live in the Worl Wide Web; we communicate via the www; and yet there is no one place on the internet that takes all of the archived data, all of the comments written by blogger Bill Tieleman et al; that gives a clear indication of why the BC Liberals didn't stick with their election promise of not selling BC Rail. If they had, we wouldn't be spending hours of time writing about Wally Opall repeatedly saying "No Comment".
In regards to David Basi being charged, RCMP Cst. Cowan's statement as an Informant is very concise, very enlightening, even with parts of it heavily censored with black ink. There are several other statements made by the same officers on others who are involved in the BC Rail breach of trust which is before the courts. He's even included Frank ...oops... Erik Bornman(n) and Brian Kieran of Pilothouse where they paid out $30,000 (twice???) indirectly to two of those named in the corruption charges.
To answer BC Mary's question if it really takes 8 months, well, "Yes, it does". As of April 30th of this year, the RCMP were into a 9 month background check on their boss, former Solicitor-General John Les, and the meter is still running almost two months later without even a whisper of a result being announced.
The "$64,000 question" is not so much as who reimbursed the singular VISA account for the plane tickets so that the Basi/Virk husband and wife teams could fly down to Denver to sit beside track Executives who were busy lobbying their favours via Bornman(n) and Kieran.....What I would like to know is what was the score at the football game and were they betting on a rigged sport.
June 24, 2008 7:35 AM
North Van's Grumps,
Every blogger should be so lucky as to have Commentors like you! Thank you immensely, especially for your encouraging words.
If you don't mind, I'm going to re-post your comment on the main page.
BC Mary gently requests, however, that you re-visit one segment of your comment, namely, the part about Paul Battershill. I must repeat: I have never met Battershill, he is not my cousin or my brother-in-law. But the fact is that his career stands up outstandingly well to scrutiny; he can't imo be compared right across the board to lobbyists or political hires, as you are suggesting here.
And so my question: does it really take 8 months to check out a genuine PERSONNEL issue? A personnel issue being quite unlike a POLITICAL, or a potentially CRIMINAL issue.
I really don't think it takes 8 months. I think we're watching the Berardino Plan repeated: delay, delay.
I think 30 days max. would've revealed "the personnel issue", if any. I've started to believe that the other 7 months is intended to allow for the build-up of this un-subtle brown cloud of innuendo. Is it a fair guess?
Because, if I'm correct, we're guilty of sitting with folded hands watching an excellent police officer being hounded, wounded, and knocked out of contention. How Mugabe is that.
Promise me, NVG, you won't be annoyed by my question -- as your contribution is so wonderfully welcome.
Because: if I am correct, Paul Battershill is exactly the calibre of police officer we so desperately need.
Plus, we need him on the witness stand at the trial of Basi, Virk, Basi because he was Chief of Police when the Victoria Police Department conducted their 20-month investigation leading up to the raids on the B.C. Legislature. OK?
.......................................................................................................................................