Vancouver resident Todd Baiden was awarded $94 000 by a BC Supreme Court Jury after being assaulted by six officers.  Baiden also filed a police complaint, which cleared the officers of wrongdoing and placed the blame on Baiden.  Todd Baiden was represented by Cameron Ward, a strong advocate for police accountability.

There is certainly a legitimate perception of bias, but more may be at work.  Police investigators are under the impression that there is a higher burden of proof for police complaints, somewhere between the civil “balance of probabilities” and the criminal “beyond a reasonable doubt”.

The BCCLA has called for a public boycott of the police complaints process when a civil suit is an option.  As you can see, civil suits are more likely to succeed.

Read more about the story at The Province.

Tags: BCCLA Police Complaints, VPD

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