Wednesday, June 24, 2020

CBC News has heard from many people confused by correspondence from the government advising them that they will not be eligible for the full $2,000 in June.

"Because you previously received an advance payment of $2,000 of the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, you won't receive a payment for the period of June 15, 2020 to June 28, 2020. This is to cover the equivalent of the first two weeks of this advance. We will communicate any further changes to your future CERB payments in the coming weeks," reads an email from Service Canada received by a CERB claimant.

What's behind the smaller payment?

A spokesperson for Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough said that some people received larger up-front payments than others when the aid program was launched. Those who were eligible for employment insurance (EI) received two payments when the CERB program began — they have now hit the maximum $8,000 for the initial four-month period.

As CERB was being rolled out, Qualtrough said the double deposits were not a mistake and that adjustments would be made through the course of the program.

Governments shouldn't 'scare' Canadians, Liberal MP says as Ottawa threatens penalties for CERB fraud

Canadians have made 190,000 repayments on CERB claims, says CRA

Other people had applied twice, through the EI and CERB streams, and ended up receiving extra payments.

"Don't worry, it's fine. We're on it. We're sorting it out," Qualtrough said at the time, assuring Canadians that the payments would be "reconciled" over time.

She did stress that payments would not exceed the maximum allowable amount and suggested that recipients "budget accordingly." The government has since announced the CERB program will be extended for two more months, which would make an individual eligible for a maximum of $12,000.

Conservative employment critic MP Dan Albas blames government communications blunders for the anxiety some Canadians are now experiencing.

"The Liberals' announcement on April 8 has resulted in considerable confusion, as many Canadians are now finding themselves in an unexpected financial situation," he said. "Government communications to Canadians who are receiving the CERB needed to be clear and concise. Unfortunately, it has been the opposite."

Recipients through the EI stream are paid $1,000 every two weeks, while recipients through the CERB stream receive one $2,000 payment monthly, said Qualtrough's office.

What happens next?

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau acknowledged on Monday that some people who received the money earlier are now struggling financially.

"This is a situation that is difficult for many families and we're looking at that closely," he said.

For those still out of work due to COVID-19, the extension of CERB will allow them to claim another $4,000 over the next two months.

NDP MP and employment critic Daniel Blaikie said the federal government should warn people well in advance before cutting the payments. The eight-week extension provides an opportunity to let people know when their benefit will end without it stopping abruptly, he said.

"Instead of putting Canadians at ease, the government has been systematically unclear. They're unclear about when payments will end, what penalties there will be and what constitutes a reasonable offer of work," he said.

"What people need is clarity. What they have is a government more concerned about covering their political backside than being straight with Canadians."

Many Canadians who were paid too much in error already have made repayments. As of early June, CRA reported that Canadians had made almost 190,000 repayments of CERB benefits they weren't entitled to receive.

Are there penalties for abuse?

CRA said the agency acted quickly to deliver emergency aid programs to Canadians in need and designed CERB as an attestation-based system, similar to the tax-filing process.

The CRA can verify the claimant's information at the time of filing or at a later date. When a claimant is found to be ineligible, they are contacted to make arrangements to repay an amount.

Trudeau and some federal ministers have said the government will not go after those who made honest mistakes when filing for emergency benefits, but they've vowed to crack down on those caught deliberately defrauding the system.

The government had proposed legislation that would have imposed stiff penalties for CERB fraud, including fines and jail time. After a backlash that saw the government accused of trying to scare people even more during a global pandemic, the bill failed to pass a Commons vote earlier this month.

CERB vs. wage subsidy?

The government has been encouraging employers to take up the wage subsidy program, which covers up to 75 per cent of the employee's salary up to a maximum of $847 a week.

That program was designed to maintain the connection between employer and employees, to allow businesses and economies to restart quickly and smoothly as pandemic restrictions ease up. Businesses must show a 30 per cent decline in revenues due to COVID-19 to qualify for the wage subsidy.

The Conservatives say the government should move to a phased formula for programs to maintain an incentive to return to work — by gradually clawing back CERB payments when someone has higher earnings and allowing businesses to claim a partial wage subsidy when they don't have the full 30 per cent revenue drop.

"As businesses start having shifts to fill, Canadians should not be penalized for returning to work. But that's exactly how the Liberals' programs are structured. Earning more than $1,000 a month results in a worker losing their entire benefit," Albas said.

"That is why Conservatives have called on the government to make the CERB more flexible so that no one is worse off going back to work or picking up a shift."

Last Updated Tuesday, June 23, 2020

CTV National News: 'I'm still having nightmares'

TORONTO -- A nursing student in British Columbia alleges she was physically injured and emotionally scarred by an encounter with an RCMP officer while she was in “crisis.”

Mona Wang has launched a lawsuit claiming she was assaulted and abused by an RCMP officer who was dispatched to Wang’s residence in Kelowna to check on her wellbeing earlier this year.

Surveillance video shows a handcuffed Wang, dressed only in a bra and leggings, being dragged facedown by her wrists and arms down a hallway and through the building’s lobby by a female officer.

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This incident comes to light during a time of scrutiny into the use of police force during wellness checks. Since April, at least four people in Canada have died at the hands of police during calls for wellness and mental health checks.

Those fatalities include: Ejaz Choudry, a 62-year-old father of four who was shot and killed by police inside his apartment in Mississauga, Ont., on June 21; Chantel Moore, a 26-year-old Indigenous woman who was shot by police June 4 in Edmundston, N.B.; and Regis Korchinski-Paquet, a Black-Indigenous woman in Toronto, who fell from a high-rise balcony on May 27 after police arrived.

D’Andre Campbell, a 26-year-old Black man with schizophrenia, was shot to death by police on April 6 in Brampton, Ont., after calling police for help.

The surveillance video released as part of Wang’s civil action shows people coming and going in a building lobby as the RCMP officer stands over Wang, who is face down on the floor.

Wang’s boyfriend called police on Jan. 20 to request a wellness check, believing she was in serious distress.

The lawsuit names RCMP Const. Lacy Browning, the federal attorney general and provincial public safety minister as defendants.

Wang says she was unable to stand when the officer arrived, but that Browning demanded she get up. She alleges the officer kicked her when she didn’t get up.

In her notice of civil claim, Wang says she was kicked, punched, and dragged through her building.

No video has emerged to show what took place in the apartment, but cameras outside do capture a woman identified as Wang being dragged by her wrists, face down. At one point, Browning is seen putting her boot on the plaintiff's head. She's also seen pulling Wang's head up by the hair, then lowering her head back to the ground.

Wang says she was left swollen, bruised and cut and suffering nightmares.

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

The officer, who has been with the RCMP at least nine years, provides her version of events in court documents. She alleges that she found an intoxicated Wang in the bathroom, holding a boxcutter knife with the blade extended, and with bleeding lacerations to her chest and upper arm.

There were melatonin and acetaminophen pills scattered about and a nearly empty wine bottle. Court documents say the officer took away the boxcutter from Wang, who was "behaving in a bizarre and erratic manner."

In the court documents, the officer says she believed Wang posed a threat to herself and to others. The officer says Wang did not follow orders, swore excessively, repeatedly asked to be killed and swung her arms around until Browning was able to handcuff her.

Browning said she thought Wang might need urgent medical or psychiatric help, and sought to take her into custody under the Mental Health Act. But the plaintiff refused to leave the apartment on her own.

The officer said she feared leaving Wang in her apartment alone, believing she was suicidal, and didn’t know whether other first responders would be able to access the apartment.

The defense says the “investigation, arrest and brief detention of the plaintiff were reasonable, lawful and executed in good faith” and that only necessary force was used.

However, an internal code of conduct review is now underway and Browning is now on administrative duties.

Her "duty status is subject to continual assessment,” Staff-Sgt. Janelle Shoihet told CTV News in an emailed statement.

"We can confirm that an internal Code of Conduct and criminal (statutory) investigation is underway," Shoihet said.

"The RCMP will also be asking an outside police department to independently review the findings of our criminal investigation once completed."

In an interview with CTV News, Wang says she “wasn’t really in a great state of mind” that night and had ingested wine and pills. She says she then had a panic attack.

“So, I was hyperventilating and that was why I think I was drifting in and out of consciousness.”

She says the officer told her to “stop being dramatic.”

Wang admits to calling the officer names, but denies being threatening. She says she asked to be taken to the hospital but was told she was being arrested. She says she was punched before “blacking out.”

She remembers screaming for help and being dragged down the hallway.

“And I just don't understand why she felt the need to have to drag me into the lobby where everyone can see me in the middle of winter, right, and I didn't have a shirt on, I didn't have my shoes on,” said Wang.

“And I was just calling for help. It was quite difficult for people that I see on a daily basis walking past, seeing me in such a vulnerable state.”

Wang, who studies nursing at the University of British Columbia, says she works with combative patients every day and nurses are trained to de-escalate situations.

“And I definitely think that when police get in a situation like that their instinct is to use violence.”

Wang says she had drunk wine and taken melatonin and Tylenol. She acknowledges she had cut herself with a box cutter but denies she was holding it when the officer arrived. She says she was in crisis but got no sympathy from the officer.

Her notice of claim alleges Browning’s “reckless and unlawful actions” have caused her to suffer “emotional distress, humiliation, shame and embarrassment, psychological and emotional trauma.”

She is seeking unspecified damages.

With files from CTV News Vancouver's Kendra Mangione, St. John Alexander and Jon Woodward https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/nursing-student-says-rcmp-wellness-check-left-her-physically-injured-emotionally-scarred-1.4997328

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A B.C. nursing student is suing the RCMP, claiming she was assaulted by an officer during a wellness check. Melanie Nagy reports.
Woman stepped on by RCMP speaks out

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The Vancouver nursing student who was stepped on during an RCMP mental health check is speaking publicly for the first time.

Mountie drags and steps on woman

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The RCMP is facing new allegations of excessive force against someone facing mental health challenges.

Extended: Woman dragged out of her home by RCMP

NOW PLAYING
Surveillance video shows a Kelowna woman being dragged out of her apartment after RCMP were called to perform a wellness check on her in January 2020.

RCMP officer dragging student, stepping on her head after wellness check

Officer has been placed on administrative duties and RCMP has launched code of conduct investigation
Brady Strachan · CBC News · Posted: Jun 23, 2020

A still from the surveillance video shows Cpl. Lacy Browning stepping on student Mona Wang's head after a wellness check by the RCMP on Jan. 20. (Submitted by Bridge Law Corporation)A surveillance video that is part of a civil lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court shows an RCMP officer in Kelowna dragging a female nursing student down a hallway and stepping on her head after a wellness check at her apartment.

The suit alleging physical and emotional abuse was filed by Mona Wang, a student at the University of British Columbia's Okanagan campus in Kelowna, against RCMP Cpl. Lacy Browning on March 23.

The officer disputes the claim, saying that only necessary force was used to subdue the student when she became violent. In Browning's statement of defence, filed June 15, she alleges Wang had a box cutter in her hand and denies that she assaulted the student.

None of the allegations has been proven in court.

Browning has been placed on administrative duties and the RCMP has launched a code of conduct investigation as well as a criminal investigation, according to a police spokesperson.

In the notice of claim, Wang says she was experiencing mental distress on the evening of Jan. 20, 2020, and her boyfriend called the RCMP requesting a wellness check.

The lawsuit says Browning found Wang lying on her apartment's bathroom floor and did not provide medical assistance.

Kelowna Mountie under investigation after video surfaces of violent arrest

Wang said she was not able to stand on her own when Browning demanded she get up.
Dragged down hallway

"Browning proceeded to assault the plaintiff by stepping on the plaintiff's arm," the lawsuit states. "Browning kicked the plaintiff in the stomach while the plaintiff was lying on the bathroom floor semi-conscious."

According to the lawsuit, Browning handcuffed Wang and then dragged her out of the suite, down a hallway toward the floor's elevator while punching her in the face.

The officer took Wang into custody without telling her why she was being detained and transported her to the Kelowna General Hospital, according to the civil claim.

Could body cameras be coming to some RCMP detachments? It's complicated

Wang says she suffered cuts, swelling and bruising from the alleged mistreatment.

"As a direct, foreseeable and proximate result of Browning's reckless and unlawful actions, the plaintiff has suffered emotional distress, humiliation, shame and embarrassment, psychological and emotional trauma," the lawsuit states.
History of suicide attempts

In her legal response to Wang's claim, Browning denies she used more force than was necessary to subdue the student and take her into custody.

In her statement, Browning says Wang had a history of suicide attempts, and when the officer arrived at the apartment she found the student lying on the bathroom floor with empty bottles of pills and an empty wine bottle near her.

Browning says Wang was holding a box-cutting knife in one hand and had cuts on her arm and chest.

After she removed the knife, Browning claims the student was initially unresponsive but then became combative, and started yelling that she wanted to be killed.

"The defendant Browning then struck the plaintiff several times with an open palm, which subdued the plaintiff sufficiently for the defendant Browning to successfully handcuff the plaintiff," the legal response states.
Taken to hospital

"The limited use of force by the defendant Browning was no more than was reasonable and necessary in the circumstances to both direct compliance as well as protect the plaintiff from further harm."

Family of deceased Whistler man sue RCMP, allege excessive force

Browning says she detained Wang under the Mental Health Act, took her out of the apartment and to a police car outside, and the woman was taken to hospital.

Her response says she moved Wang to the front door because she wasn't sure emergency responders would be able to access the building and because she felt it unsafe to leave Wang alone.

This month, the court ordered the apartment building where Wang lived at the time of the incident provide surveillance video of the incident.

Wang's lawyer Michael Patterson provided the video to CBC News this week.

WATCH | Surveillance footage from the apartment block hallway and lobby:
Surveillance video shows RCMP officer dragging and stepping on woman after wellness check RCMP officer drags student down a hallway and then steps on her head after detaining the woman during a wellness check. 1:37

The video does not capture what happened in Wang's apartment, but it shows Browning dragging the student down the hallway and then into the building's lobby as other people are coming in and out of the building.

Wang is lying on the floor in pants and a bra and not moving.

At one point, when Wang lifts her head, Browning steps down on her head, forcing it back to the floor.

Browning later grabs Wang's hair and lifts her head and shoulders up off the ground.

Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran saw the video for the first time Monday night and said he was "very disappointed."

"It is really disturbing and I think it just highlights the need for systemic changes," he told Daybreak South host Chris Walker.

"Dealing with mental health and addiction issues is not easy, but what I saw in that video was incredibly disappointing."

RCMP announced Tuesday that Browning had been placed on administrative duties after a review of the video and the allegations.

"An internal code of conduct and criminal (statutory) investigation is underway," wrote RCMP Staff Sgt. Janelle Shoihet in an email.

"The RCMP will also be asking an outside police department to independently review the findings of our criminal investigation once completed."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Brady Strachan is a CBC reporter based in Kelowna, B.C. Besides Kelowna, Strachan has covered stories for CBC News in Winnipeg, Brandon, Vancouver and internationally. Follow his tweets @BradyStrachan

Black woman accuses Peel police of racism after officer shoots her on Mother's Day

© CBC Chantelle Krupka, 34, a mother of a 10-year-old boy, speaks to reporters outside her Mississauga home about being shot on Mother's Day.

A Black woman in Mississauga says Peel police used excessive force against her when one officer Tasered her in the back and then another officer shot her in the abdomen on Mother's Day.
Chantelle Krupka, 34, a mother of a 10-year-old boy, told reporters on Mississauga on Tuesday that police were responding to a domestic call made by her ex-partner.

Krupka was injured by the officers on the front porch of her home. A single bullet fractured her right hip.

"I asked the officer who shot me why she shot me. It actually in a way calmed me down because the Tasing hurt much more. The shock from the shot really kind of pushed me back and calmed me. It took a minute to register what had happened," an emotional Krupka said at a news conference.
"And I looked her in the eye and I maintained contact. And I asked her repeatedly why she shot me. I said, 'I just wanted to see my son. I didn't deserve this. Why did you do this to me?' She didn't answer."

Krupka's account comes in the wake of a number of recent cases in the U.S. and Canada where racialized people have been killed or injured in interactions with police — the most notable being the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, a death that touched off street protests around the world.

© Evan Mitsui/CBC Anti-racism demonstrators march in Toronto on June 6, 2020, more than a week after George Floyd, an unarmed black man, died in police custody in Minneapolis. Chantelle Krupka's account comes in the wake of a number of recent cases in the U.S. and Canada where racialized people have been killed or injured during interactions with police.
Krupka said she was no threat to police when the shooting happened on May 10 at about 10:30 p.m.

Ontario's police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), has been called in. Krupka took cellphone video of the confrontation, and it is now in the possession of the SIU, which also seized the firearm used by the officer.

Krupka said police also used excessive force against her current partner, Michael Headley, who was Tasered three times as well in front of the home.

In a release on Tuesday, the SIU said it is "nearing completion" of its investigation into the case.

The SIU said the firearm was submitted to the Centre of Forensic Sciences for analysis and information from the conducted energy weapon used on Krupka has been downloaded. It is still waiting for "some recently requested materials" from Peel police.

© CBC Chantelle Krupka, middle, answers questions while her partner, Michael Headley, left, and her lawyer, Davin Charney, right, listen.
Krupka and Headley have also filed a complaint with the Office of the Independent Police Review Director.

They allege that Peel police used excessive force against both of them, unlawfully arrested Headley, and committed "discreditable conduct" because "this is a case of racism."

They allege the officers escalated the situation and that there is systemic racism within Peel police.

"My ex knows that he can weaponize police against me because I am Black. He knows when he calls police they believe him because he is not Black and that they will mistreat me because I am Black. I would not have been shot and Tasered if I was a white woman," Krupka says in the complaint.

"Michael would not have been Tasered if he was a white man. Any fear police felt was exaggerated in their minds because of negative and improper stereotypes and poor training. How could I possibly have been seen as a threat when on the ground after being tasered in the back?"

© Jeremy Cohn/CBC According to Krupka, police were called to the home after she and her ex-partner, with whom she shares custody of their 10-year-old boy, exchanged text messages earlier in the day. She expressed a desire to talk to her son on Mother's Day and there was nothing threatening in the text messages.

According to Krupka, police were called to the home after she and her ex-partner, with whom she shares custody, exchanged text messages earlier in the day. She expressed a desire to talk to her son on Mother's Day and there was nothing threatening in the text messages.

She said when police arrived, a male officer called her, and she became afraid.

She said police shone a spotlight on her house, and she called emergency dispatch and was told to go outside. When she and Headley went outside, she said the male officer accused her of making a fist, and Tasered Headley.

Krupka said she tried to run away. The officer then Tasered her, she fell to the ground, rolled over onto her back and a female officer shot her.

Krupka was taken to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries and underwent surgery. Police searched the home and told her two weeks later that she was being charged.

"The night of the incident, police seized property from my home, including cash, a cell phone, and cannabis — each of which are legal," the complaint reads.

"I believe that the charges against Michael and myself were laid in an attempt to paint us as criminals and create an after-the-fact justification for the excessive use of force against us," it continues.
Use of force 'outrageously abusive,' complaint says

"Even if there were any merit to the charges, which we absolutely deny, the use of force was excessive and outrageously abusive. We did not deserve to be tasered. I did not deserve to be shot."

Davin Charney, her lawyer, said police came to the home to give relationship advice and there is no need for armed officers to do so.

Const. Akhil Mooken, spokesperson for Peel Regional Police, said on Tuesday the force is unable to comment on the incident because the SIU is investigating.

Mooken, however, confirmed that a female was struck and injured on May 10 by a "police-discharged firearm."

He said Krupka has been charged with laundering proceeds of crime committed within Canada, a charge under the Criminal Code, and possession for the purpose of distributing over 50 grams of marijuana, a charge under the Cannabis Act.

© Jeremy Cohn/CBC In a release on Tuesday, the SIU said it is 'nearing completion' of its investigation into the case.

The SIU has not yet responded to an email requesting further comment.

In the release, the SIU said four investigators and two forensic investigators have been assigned to the case. Investigators have canvassed the area in an attempt to obtain evidence and locate witnesses. Krupka, four witnesses, six officers and the officer who is the subject of the investigation have all been interviewed.

The SIU is an arm's length agency that investigates reports involving police where there has been death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault.

CANADA

Indigenous women's group urges RCMP to end 'needless deaths'

The Canadian Press Staff Published Tuesday, June 23, 2020

RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki is seen during a news conference in Ottawa, Monday, April 20, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

OTTAWA -- A national group representing Indigenous women is urging the RCMP to quickly take steps -- including equipping Mounties with body cameras -- to end what it calls needless killing and assaults by police.

In a letter to RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki, the Native Women's Association of Canada also calls on the force to make non-violent apprehension the imperative when a suspect has no gun and to ensure social workers, health professionals or elders be called when an Indigenous person is suffering a mental health crisis.

The letter to Lucki comes as a House of Commons committee prepares to meet today to consider doing a study of systemic racism in policing.

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New Democrat MP Jack Harris has been pressing the public safety committee to reconvene to get an examination underway.

Harris wants Lucki and Public Safety Minister Bill Blair, a former Toronto police chief, to be among the witnesses.

Lucki recently said she was struggling with the notion of systemic racism in the RCMP, only to acknowledge its existence days later.

New Democrats have already called for a review of the RCMP budget and for more spending on mental health and addiction supports to prevent crises from becoming police matters.

Concerns about police brutality and discrimination have sparked rallies and cries for change around the world since the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, by Minnesota police.

The recent police killings of Chantel Moore and Rodney Levi in New Brunswick, and the battering of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Chief Allan Adam by RCMP in Alberta, have highlighted the issue in Canada, the association notes.
In the letter to Lucki, association president Lorraine Whitman invites Lucki to take "the first steps to end the needless deaths and assaults of Indigenous women and men at the hands of Canadian police."

"We, as Indigenous women, did not need to read the recent spate of tragic news to understand the tragic outcomes that can occur when our people have encounters with law enforcement in this country," Whitman writes.

"But we ask that you use this moment to begin taking the steps necessary to prevent further lives from being lost."

The association also wants the RCMP and other Canadian police forces to join in forming a task force to rewrite the relationship between police and Indigenous women.
"We want culturally appropriate protocols that will keep our women, girls and gender-diverse people safe, not just from street killers and other assailants who have targeted them as prey, but from the police themselves."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 23, 2020.

THE RCMP MALE MEMBERS OF THE FORCE HAVE A RAPIST MISOGYNISTIC APPROACH TO INDIGENOUS WOMEN WHEN ASSIGNED TO NORTHERN COMMUNITIES ON THE PRAIRIES AS A RESULT OF PUNISHMENT FOR

SOME INFRACTION ON THE FORCE SUCH WAS THE CASE OF FORMER MP, ALBERTA MLA EX RCMP JACK RAMSEY

HOUSE COMMITTEE HEARINGS WITH RCMP COMMISSIONER BRENDA LUCKI

Pam Palmaterverified_user
Pam_Palmater
My latest for @macleans I agree with Senator Dyck, NAN Grand Chief @gcfiddler & others that @rcmpgrcpolice Commissioner Brenda Lucki must go. She has not addressed lethal racism in RCMP. #MMWIG #RodneyLevi #ChantalMoore https://t.co/QJNZC4xGkr
Twitter 2020-06-18 5:47 p.m

Gary Anandasangareeverified_user
gary_srp
During yesterday's Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, I asked Royal Canadian Mounted Commissioner, Brenda Lucki what steps the RCMP is taking to address issues of systemic #racism within the police force. (1/3) https://t.co/q3sv4lpU7I
Twitter 6:50 a.m.

Kristy Kirkupverified_user
kkirkup
Last night at a committee, RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki pointed to an example of a six-foot jump in response to a question about systemic racism in her force from @GregFergus. “That would be systemic discrimination,” he said. https://t.co/xc3ibJXro0 #cdnpoli
Twitter 6:37 a.m.

Police in misconduct cases stay on force through arbitration

1 of 3
FILE - In this May 30, 2020 file photo, a protester addresses a line of Tucson Police Officers in riot gear in Tucson, Ariz. Hundreds of officers across the country were fired, sometimes repeatedly, for violating policies but got their jobs back after appealing their cases to an arbitrator who successfully overturned their discipline – a all-too-common practice that experts say stands in the way of real accountability. On Monday, June 22, 2020 James Pasco, executive director of the National Fraternal Order of Police, said " management should do a better job when hiring officers. (Josh Galemore/Arizona Daily Star via AP)

SEATTLE (AP) — An Oregon police officer lost his job and then returned to work after fatally shooting an unarmed Black man in the back. A Florida sergeant was let go six times for using excessive force and stealing from suspects, while a Texas lieutenant was terminated five times after being accused of striking two women, making threatening calls and committing other infractions.

These officers and hundreds of others across the country were fired, sometimes repeatedly, for violating policies but got their jobs back after appealing their cases to an arbitrator who overturned their discipline — an all-too-common practice that some experts in law and in policing say stands in the way of real accountability

“Arbitration inherently undermines police decisions,” said Michael Gennaco, a police reform expert and former federal civil rights prosecutor who specialized in police misconduct cases. “It’s dismaying to see arbitrators regularly putting people back to work.”

The killing of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer sparked weeks of protests and calls for reforms, but experts say arbitration can block those efforts.

Arbitration, the appeals process used by most law enforcement agencies, contributes to officer misconduct, limits public oversight and dampens morale, said Stephen Rushin, a Loyola University Chicago law professor who last year published a study on arbitration in the University of Pennsylvania Law Review.

“Police arbitration on appeal is one of the single most important accountability issues in the country,” he told The Associated Press. “You can’t change an organization if you have to keep employing people that you know are going to do bad things.”

Generally, when a misconduct complaint is filed against an officer, it’s investigated internally and if a policy violation occurred, the chief or other official may order discipline ranging from oral reprimand to suspension to termination.

An officer who objects can appeal to an arbitrator. Each state and municipality is different, but this is the most common process. Police unions argue that arbitration is less expensive and less time-consuming than going to court, so it’s written into their contracts.

Arbitrators are usually lawyers who focus on labor law, and in most cases they have the final word. The process can take years. Officers who are fired and reinstated can get back pay for the time they weren’t working.

The contract between the Seattle police union and the city states the burden of proof to fire an officer must be “more than preponderance of the evidence,” in cases for an offense that could “stigmatize” an officer and make it harder to get employment elsewhere.

This type of requirement is common, Gennaco said, adding, “The raised standard for termination cases is another example of a union contract that gives special rights to police.”

James Pasco, executive director of the National Fraternal Order of Police, which has 351,000 members, said management should do a better job when hiring officers.

“Rather than acknowledge their failure in recruiting and screening, they want to blame problem officers on the union contract,” Pasco said Monday. “If they did appropriate recruiting, training and supervision, we wouldn’t be in the position of using arbitration.”

It’s unclear whether some cases are overturned due to an arbitrator’s personal bias or flaws in the internal investigations, or both, said Rushin, the law professor.

One Seattle officer was fired for punching a handcuffed woman in his patrol car in 2014. He appealed, and the arbitrator reduced his punishment to a 15-day suspension. The city appealed in state court, and the judge reinstated his dismissal.

That’s unusual, Rushin said. More often, union agreements make the arbitrator’s decision final, and a court can’t overturn it.

Officials in Portland, Oregon, took their opposition to an arbitrator’s decision to the Oregon Court of Appeals but lost their bid to enforce the firing of Officer Ron Frashour.

Frashour and another officer had gone to the home of Aaron Campbell on Jan. 29, 2010, on a report that he was distraught over his brother’s death. The officers ordered Campbell to exit the home, and he came out unarmed, walking backward with his hands on his head. Frashour shot Campbell in his back, killing him.

Portland settled a federal lawsuit with the Campbell estate in 2012 for $1.2 million, and city officials fired Frashour, concluding Campbell didn’t pose a threat. But an arbitrator ruled in 2012 that the city must reinstate him. The city appealed and lost again.

San Antonio officials have repeatedly ordered discipline for Lt. Lee Rakun, but he successfully appealed his termination five times, according to reports. His most recent suspension occurred in 2018 for leaving work early and defying authority. He appealed that firing once again.

Rakun isn’t alone. San Antonio TV station KSAT found that two-thirds of fired officers had gotten their jobs back since 2010.

San Antonio City Manager Erik Walsh said the current collective bargaining agreement limits the chief’s ability to appropriately discipline officers.

“We intend to bring those issues to the next contract negotiation with the police union,” he said. “I am hoping the police union will agree that these cases tarnish and impact the community’s confidence in our police department.”

A Florida police officer who was fired six times went back on patrol in 2018. An arbitrator ordered the Opa-locka Police Department to rehire Sgt. German Bosque after he was fired in 2013 for evidence tampering. A 2011 Sarasota Herald-Tribune report said Bosque had 40 internal affairs complaints, including 16 for battery or excessive force.

When an arbitrator changes the punishment or throws it out, it can have a demoralizing effect on the people in charge.

“One of the most common complaints I’ve heard from chiefs is they say why should an unelected arbitrator, who doesn’t know our department, doesn’t know our history, why should they be the one that gets to decide which type of punishment is excessive and which type of punishment is reasonable?” Rushin said.

No state or federal agency tracks arbitration outcomes, but media investigations have documented hundreds of officers who returned to work after being fired. A Washington Post report documented 1,881 officers who were fired between 2006 and 2016, and 451 got their jobs back through arbitration.

SELF ORGANIZED SELF DIRECTED PROTESTS ARE NOT ORGANIZED BY A GEORGE SOROS CONSPIRACY IF IT WERE THEY WOULD HAVE PROFESSIONAL SIGNS NOT HOMEMADE ONES

A City Painted Over A Black Lives Matter Street Mural As Protests Continue

People pointed out the symbolism of the blue line of paint — but police said the paint is gray.

Claudia KoernerBuzzFeed News Reporter

Last updated on June 21, 2020, at 10:30 p.m. ET

After protesters painted "Black Lives Matter" on a street outside the Florissant, Missouri, police department, the city covered it up, drawing new criticism as protests continue locally and around the US.

Police in Florissant, Missouri, protecting people while they paint a blue line over a BLM street mural

A photo posted to Twitter on Saturday showed a group of people painting over the stenciled words and questioned the use of a blue line of paint to do the job. "The thin blue line" has for decades been a metaphor for police work, and it's frequently included in pro-police imagery.

But according to Florissant Police Department Officer Steve Michael, the paint is not blue, but gray.

"It was painted over because it is illegal to paint the roadway," he said in an email to BuzzFeed News. "It has absolutely nothing to do with the message."

Michael added the new paint job was done by the city's street department.

"If we allow all groups to paint a message anywhere then we would have all kinds of different groups doing it," he said. "We simply cannot allow any group to paint anything on roadways."

Florissant, a St. Louis suburb, is a neighbor of Ferguson, Missouri, where 18-year-old Michael Brown was killed by police in 2014. Locals have protested many times since then, and they once again gathered against police brutality after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Police have at times used chemical agents on protesters, and earlier this month, an officer was fired after striking a man with an unmarked police vehicle.

The street mural was first painted on Friday, KMOV reported.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBqUXZzl_u7/?utm_source=ig_embed

Instagram: @juvon_baker

After it was initially painted over, protesters once again wrote "Black Lives Matter" in the street's center lane. It was then again painted over, a St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter said.

Starting to chalk lines in for Black Lives Matter. Has been painted and repainted 2 times this weekend. Florissant police say deployment of chemical munitions imminent. 'Hell no, we won't go' chant protesters.

But as of Sunday night, protesters were again gathering. And they were again writing out "Black Lives Matter."

Russian court grants early release to imprisoned Jehovah's Witness
Dane Dennis Christensen was sentenced to six years in jail by a Russian court in May 2017 for continuing the activities of an extremist group for practicing his Jehova's Witnesses religion. Photo courtesy of United States Commission on International Religious Freedom/Website

June 23 (UPI) -- The Jehovah's Witnesses said a Danish citizen who has been jailed in Russia since 2017 for practicing their religion was granted early release on Tuesday by a Kremlin court.

The Lgovskiy District Court in the Kursk Region that borders Ukraine granted Dennis Christensen early release at the prosecution's request, the religion said in a statement on its website.

Christensen was sentenced to six years in prison in February 2019 on charges of continuing the activities of an extremist group. The Jehovah's Witnesses organization was banned as an extremist group in 2017.

The Danish carpenter who lives in Oryol with his Russian-citizen wife was arrested on May 25, 2017, when Federal Security Service agents broke up a Jehovah's Witnesses prayer service in a crackdown on the religion, detaining some 70-80 people.

RELATED EU weighs barring travelers from U.S., Russia, Brazil in border reopening plan

The church said the judge mitigated the remainder of his sentence to a $5,759 fine.

"The decision will take effect in 10 days, after which he will be able to go home to his wife, family and fellow worshipers," the statement read.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom "welcomed" the decision to grant Christensen clemency.

Paroling Dennis Christensen was the right thing to do and we are glad that the Russian government finally took this important step," said USCIRF Chair Gayle Manchin, who advocated for Christensen's release through the commission's Religious Prisoner of Conscience Project. "We are hopeful that this represents a change in policy, yet we remain concerned about Russia's ongoing imprisonment of people for simply practicing their peaceful religious beliefs."

According to the Jehovah's Witnesses, 10 of its followers remain behind Russian bars for their beliefs while another 24 remain in pretrial detention and another 24 are under house arrest.

The USCIRF recommended in its 2020 Annual Report that the U.S. State Department designate Russia as a country of particular concern over its violations against religious freedom. It currently has Russia on its Special Watch List.

According to the State Department's website, a CPC designation allows an economic measure, such as sanctions, to be imposed against the offending country if non-economic policy options fail to force the country to cease violating religious freedoms.

"Dennis Christensen's health noticeably deteriorated while in custody, and USCIRF is hopeful that he will recover his strength at home," Manchin added.

USS Nitze sails into contested waters off coast of Venezuela

IMPERIALIST PROVOCATION

DEFENSE NEWS
JUNE 23, 2020 / 8:05 PM

Official U.S. Navy file photo of the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Nitze departs Safaga, Egypt after a port visit in this July 2019 photo. On June 23, 2020, while peacefully operating in the Caribbean Sea, USS Nitze conducted a freedom of navigation operation off the coast of Venezuela. Photo by Will Hardy/U.S. Navy

June 23 (UPI) -- The USS Nitze sailed into contested waters off the coast of Venezuela Tuesday in what the Navy describes as a "freedom of navigation operation" contesting "an excessive maritime claim" by Venezuela.

According to the Navy, Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer conducted the operation outside of Venezuela's 12-nautical-mile territorial jurisdiction -- an area the Maduro regime claims control over.

"The U.S. Navy routinely conducts freedom of navigation operations around the world to preserve the maritime navigation and access rights guaranteed to all nations and vital to the global mobility of U.S. forces," said the Navy's press release on the operation.

The Navy and Coast Guard are currently operating in the Caribbean as part of a counter-narcotics operation announced earlier this spring.

PHONEY WAR ON DRUGS, TO INCREASE AMERICAN ABILITY TO INTERDICT

AS IT WILLS, IN OTHER WORDS PIRACY AND PRIVATEERING

"The United States will continue to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows, preserving the rights, freedoms and lawful use of the sea and airspace guaranteed to all nations," said Adm. Craig Faller, Commander of U.S. Southern Command. "These freedoms are the bedrock of ongoing security efforts, and essential to regional peace and stability."

CAP IN HAND
Lord: Pentagon needs more funding to reimburse contractors for COVID-19 claims

NO THEY DON'T THEY ALREADY GET 65% OF THE US ANNUAL BUDGET FOR GOVERNMENT SERVICES, ALMOST $1TRILLION ANNUALLY

SEE https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=PERMANENT+ARMS+ECONOMY

Ellen M. Lord, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, briefs reporters on the Defense Department’s COVID-19 acquisition policy at the Pentagon Monday. Photo by Jackie Sanders/U.S. Air Force

June 23 (UPI) -- The Department of Defense may have to reach into fiscal 2021 appropriations to reimburse contractors for costs related to the COVID-19 pandemic, Undersecretary for Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord told reporters this week.

Lord said Monday that the Pentagon needs an amount of money in the "lower double-digit billions" to be included in the fiscal 2021 Defense appropriations bill to meet an expected wave of claims by contractors related to the pandemic.

Lord said the Pentagon might have to dip into its modernization and readiness funding to address anticipated contractor claims under Section 3610 of the CARES Act.

The section of the law allows DoD and other agencies to modify contract terms to allow contractors to keep their employees who are not working onsite but can't work from home at a "ready state," and reimburse up to 40 hours of paid leave per employee.

RELATED GenDyn inks $9.5B deal for first 2 Columbia-class subs

It also allows agencies some discretion in how they reimburse contractors.

So far the agency has not released its criteria for claims, nor received any from contractors, according to Lord.

"We have not yet received any claims because I believe the defense industrial base is waiting to more clearly understand what the process is and we are working with them on the criteria," Lord said.

RELATED Most civilian contractors have reopened, top Pentagon official says

Lord said the Pentagon has seen "an enormous amount of recovery" in the defense industrial base, depending on the location and type of work being performed.

The Pentagon also entered into an agreement this week with the U.S. International Development Finance Corp. to create a two-year, $100 million loan program to create, protect, maintain, expand or restore domestic industrial capabilities in support of COVID-19 response.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment