|
Stan
Goertzen
| Former
Deputy Chief Wiks
| Winnipeg
Chief Ewatski |
Brian Dueck
The whitewashing
begins . . .
Dueck quits force, won't be disciplined
Lana Haight, The StarPhoenix,
December 21, 2004
A Saskatoon police officer
who helped maliciously prosecute a dozen people on false sexual
abuse charges has retired before police Chief Russ Sabo could
decide his future.
Brian Dueck's lawyer tendered
the former police superintendent's resignation Monday afternoon
during a closed-door meeting with Sabo. He will begin collecting
his pension immediately as his resignation took effect the same
day.
According to a police news
release, Dueck's retirement means he is no longer subject to
the disciplinary provisions of the Saskatchewan Police Act.
In December 2003, Justice George
Baynton found that Dueck helped maliciously prosecute Richard
Klassen and members of the extended Klassen family in the early
1990s.
He was the lead police investigator
in the case, which was based largely on the fabricated stories
of three foster children.
Dueck has been on paid medical
leave since January.
Richard Klassen directed his
anger toward Sabo after learning Dueck had retired.
"(Sabo) apologized to
us, didn't he? He knew the department had done us wrong. Why
didn't he fire the officer that was responsible for it?"
wondered Klassen. "Some apology. In my opinion, there was
no apology now. It's all wiped out. Sabo wasn't sorry for anything."
Sabo would not comment on Dueck's
resignation nor would police say how long Monday's meeting lasted
and whether Dueck accompanied his lawyer to the meeting.
Sabo had asked a private law
firm to review Baynton's judgment, then asked the Saskatchewan
Justice Department to assign an independent police agency to
review the matter. The justice report received by Sabo earlier
this month indicated there was an insufficient basis to conduct
a criminal investigation of Dueck's conduct.
Monday's meeting was originally
scheduled for last week but was postponed at Dueck's request.
"If I knew that this could
happen and I was chief, I would have fired him before he could
do it," Klassen said.
Klassen says he had written
a letter to Sabo expressing his concern that Dueck might resign
before any disciplinary action could be taken against the officer.
And he says the chief phoned him just last week.
"He said I may even have
to testify depending on what his decision is. That gave me the
impression that (Dueck) would be fired much like (Larry) Hartwig
and (Brad) Senger. And here I hear this. I'm more than shocked,"
said Klassen.
Klassen vows he'll resume demonstrating
against the police force by picketing the downtown station and
going door-to-door throughout Saskatoon. He also plans to release
information that was not presented in the malicious prosecution
case.
Klassen believes many people
in Saskatoon will be disappointed with Dueck's resignation.
"The support that I have
gotten throughout this last year from people on the street and
who were awaiting to hear what would happen with Dueck is astronomical,"
he said.
Klassen now has set his sights
on the mayor's chair.
"The people I've talked
to, and I'm talking thousands, over the last year have been supportive
and believe that I've got good ideas. We're not building confidence
(in the police department)," he said.
The closed-door meeting between
the police chief and Dueck's lawyer falls under Section 60 of
the police act dealing with incompetence and unsuitability --
the same process Sabo followed with former constables Hartwig
and Senger, who were fired Nov. 12 in the aftermath of the Neil
Stonechild inquiry.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2004
Dueck to face police
chief
Rod Nickel, The StarPhoenix,
December 8, 2004
Police Chief Russell Sabo has
ordered Supt. Brian Dueck or a representative on his behalf to
appear before him Monday as the chief considers the officer's
future with the force.
Justice George Baynton found
in December that Dueck maliciously prosecuted a dozen people
on false sexual abuse charges in the early 1990s. The officer
dropped his appeal of the ruling in July.
Dueck was the lead police investigator
in the case, which was based largely on the fabricated stories
of three foster children. He has been on paid medical leave since
January.
Sabo first asked a private
law firm to review Baynton's judgment, then asked the Saskatchewan
Justice Department to assign an independent police agency to
review the matter.
On Dec. 2, he received an opinion
from Saskatchewan Justice that there's an insufficient basis
to conduct a criminal investigation of Dueck's conduct.
The closed-door review falls
under Section 60 of the Saskatchewan Police Act dealing with
incompetence and unsuitability -- the same process Sabo followed
with constables Larry Hartwig and Brad Senger, whom he fired
Nov. 12 in the aftermath of the Neil Stonechild inquiry.
Dueck has been served a notice
to appear. A lawyer or official from the police executive officers
association may appear in his place.
"This matter has been
outstanding for a significant amount of time," Sabo said.
"I want to be able to deal with the matter as expeditiously
as possible."
Once Sabo takes time to consider
Dueck's side, he'll look at options ranging from reinstating
the officer to suspending, demoting or firing him.
"(At) minimum, he has
to be fired," said Richard Klassen, one of the victims.
"He can't retire and collect a pension. . . . Certainly
it's conduct unbecoming an officer.
"If this doesn't happen
the way it should happen, then it's never going to be resolved.
My whole aim was to bring justice, not just for our family. If
this police officer stays on the force or retires with a pension,
it was all for nothing.
"It's one thing to hear
an apology from the chief and the police department, it's another
to see something done about it."
Klassen said he's prepared
to resume demonstrating in front of the police station if there's
any decision short of dismissal.
"I wouldn't let this guy
go," he said.
Efforts to reach Dueck were
unsuccessful.
More than a dozen members of
the Klassen and Kvello families were charged in 1991 with abusing
the children.
The charges eventually were
stayed against 12 of them, while a controversial plea bargain
saw one accused, Peter Klassen, plead guilty to some of the charges.
In 1994, the 12 who had their
charges stayed sued for malicious prosecution. The case dragged
on for nearly 10 years before Baynton ruled in their favour against
Dueck, Crown prosecutor Matthew Miazga and therapist Carol Bunko-Ruys.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2004
- Superintendent Brian
George Dueck was found to have acted with malice eleven and a
half months ago: Dueck could retire with a full pension on January
1, 2005. That pension would be based on his $104,000 a year salary
-
- No, there
is not really anything new to tell you and that is the problem.
The graphics below from 2001 and 2003 shows Dueck's powerful
position.
-
- (These graphics are taken
from pages found on The
Wayback Machine, internet archives. This is a tremendous
resource for anyone wanting to research material from years gone
by. This website is archived -- not completely, but if you are
interested in checking out what we were saying back in 1998,
for instance, you can quickly verify that we were calling for
Dueck's removal and had been punished for doing so.)
-
- Two Court of Queen's Bench
judges (Baynton and Wright) have found Saskatoon Police acted
with malice. (Yes, covering up police involvement in a dumping
death is malicious.) In suspending Deputy Chief Wiks and firing
Larry Hartwig and Brent Senger, Chief Sabo has shown that he
can respond to community pressure when he is pushed.
-
- Why has he not responded to
our call to fire Dueck? Correspondence
below contains promises this matter will be dealt with in
ten days. How often have we seen ten days expand to weeks to
months to years? Richard Klassen has been telling the police
force about Dueck for thirteen years. This period includes half
a dozen different police chiefs.
-
-
- The Criminal
Investigations Division is responsible for most of the detective/
plainclothes officers within the Saskatoon Police. Sections within
this division include: Special Investigations, Integrated Intelligence,
Serious Crime, Major Crime, Polygraph, Identification, Integrated
Drug, Commercial Crime/Arson, Morality, Vice, General Investigations/Stolen
Auto, Break and Enter, SHOCAP and Pawn Detail. Approximately
90 personnel work in this division. The CID Superintendent is
also in charge of the Center for Children's Justice and Victim
Services
This shot is taken from the Police website
in February, 2003.
HUMAN RESOURCES
Superintendent
Brian Dueck
Under the direction
of the Deputy Chief of Police, the Human Resources Superintendent
is responsible for the management and administration of recruitment,
selection, civilian staffing, employee appraisal, training, personnel
records, the Police promotion process and the supervision of
the section staff. The Superintendent is responsible for overall
supervisory control and management within the Division, ensuring
the Police Service provides an effective and efficient service
to the public.
You will notice that in the
second graphic, The Chief of Police is not even included. At
that time it was, and still is, Russell Sabo.
We have been asking for some
time, and will now ask it again: How can a police chief fulfil
a promise to clean up the force if his new recruits are being
recruited and trained by a man who is dirty? Chief Sabo had to
know that Dueck, the city and the police were named in a lawsuit
filed in 1993. And if he had been misled on the seriousness of
the claims against Dueck there, he must surely have been aware
of Dueck and Murray Zoorkan's
Rambo tactics in the Kim Cooper fiasco. Zoorkan is now a
superintendant. How did this happen? Shoring up the Old Boys'
Network is not a smart way to clean up the force.
We are really tired of waiting.
Richrd Klassen sent the following e-mail to Chief Sabo yesterday:
Sent: Wednesday, December 01, 2004 1:09 PM
To: Sabo, Russell (Police)
Subject: Brian Dueck
Russ,
I am writing in relation to
some information I received from Robert Borden. He informed me
that as of January, 2005 Brian Dueck will be able to retire with
a full pension even in light of the investigation currently ongoing.
If this is the case, this definitely is not acceptable in light
of the findings of Justice Baynton's judgment. The fact that
Brian Dueck has openly accepted these findings by not appealing
his decision, should have expedited this entire investigation
to a final conclusion.
It is disheartening to see
a police officer disregard the findings of Justice Baynton and
to continue to stay on the payroll. I have come to the conclusion
that there may likely be substance to Robert Borden's claim.
For this reason I believe it is in my best interest to once again
go as public as feasibly possible to expose any possible tricks
that Mr. Dueck may be playing.
I have waited much too long
for justice in this case, and personally speaking I am tired
of waiting. I recently supported you in your decision to fire
both Hartwig and Senger. I have at all times felt compassion
for the hard decisions you have had to make in the past regarding
your police force. However in saying that I believe it is time
for you to publicly address the findings of Brian Dueck and start
the process of rebuilding a police force that I feel is salvageable
for the most part.
I sincerely hope that I will
receive a reply to this letter that will be both satisfactory
to myself as well as the public. I have been patient for thirteen
years; this patience has now run its course.
Richard Klassen
The reply:
From: Sabo,
Russell (Police) [mailto:Russell.Sabo@Police.Saskatoon.Sk.CA]
Sent: December 1, 2004 5:13 PM
To: Angie Geworsky
Subject: RE: Brian Dueck
Angie and Richard, thanks for
your patience I must tell you that I am waiting to receive confirmation
of findings from the review that I had initiated and hope to
have them back in the next 10 days. At that point I will have
to consider the findings and then consider what actions are appropriate....Russ
You know, the informality and
first name chummy style of the Chief wears thin. Dave Scott was
the master of this craft and he managed to take his forced retirement
without going to jail. We recognize that Scott was able to project
charm to cover up what he was really doing. We really don't need
another charming chief: we need a leader with courage.
The lines have been fairly
clearly drawn since former mayor Jim Maddin finally got around
to firing Scott. It was too little and it was too late but it
was something. We responded
at the time. Scott had managed to get the outgoing Board
of Commissioners to give him a contract that was so outrageous
($150K) many, including the media, were left with our jaws on
the floor. Once Scott was gone and his business connections on
the Board were gone, Maddin took far too long to choose the next
chief. There are a number of things he could have done that he
didn't do because he didn't fully appreciate the strength of
the mandate we had given him. We knew it was a case of civilized
people against thugs. We tried to tell him. It was not until
May of his third year that he responded to us.
When Saskatoon voters went
to the polls in November, 2003, we learned that this city had
a frightening majority of people who prefered a strict "law
and order" method of dealing with the rise of crime to a
more compassionate, help-each-other-out approach which was represented
by the buzzwords "community policing." Jim Pankiw,
who is an outright racist, got more votes than Mayor Maddin.
Dave Scott, on the night before the election, was able to go
on television, voice his distaste and dislike for Mayor Maddin
-- and mobilize the Atchison vote.
Atchison started out hell-bent
on implementing the "law and order" agenda. He got
rid of police commission head Leanne Bellegard-Daniels and promised
to shut down the Little Chief Station. Chief Sabo was able to
hold back the tide somewhat, having confirmation of corruption
in his department from two respected judges. Yet he has still
failed to act decisively. He is the only one with a big enough
broom to make a clean sweep of the corrupt and mutinous forces
within his ranks.
Union
president Stan Goertzen
Doesn't he get it? Dueck's
influence within the force is entrenched. He has been training
new recruits! During the time he has been "getting to know"
the force he was hired to lead, surely he has come up with some
honest officers who could re-train those who got off to a bad
start. But it would be pretty hard to do this if Dueck gets to
retire with full pension. Stan Goertzen, the head of the union,
is clearly from the old boy's school. Like Dueck, he reinforces
his already formidable appearance with an alternatively surly
and soft manner. His interrogation methods have been seen this
week by another Queen's Bench judge, John Klebuc who is presiding
over the trial of Farand Bear.
The Saskatoon Police will not
be able to serve a community which is scared of it. And a large
portion of Saskatoon's west side is scared. This is the community
which did not vote for Jim Pankiw. This is also the community
which is largely responsible for Saskatoon having its highest
muder rate in ten years and for continually leading national
statistics for violent crime and general dissatisfaction.
Dueck has played a huge role
in shaping this community. He has neutralized or neutered anyone
who has risen to oppose him. He went after the Klassen/Kvello
families in the early 1990s with a ferocity that was made clear
at the civil trial. He went after neighbours, spread false rumours
and generally strutted about like the Chief he hoped to become.
He masterminded stings and drug operations which helped him keep
his statistics looking good and the downtrodden fearful. He was
on a first name basis with the folks who run the methadone
"program" -- which has receives funding from governments
and makes claims which are simply not true. Methadone works in
isolated cases where the addict has family, community and resources
to help him/her recover. In a community like Saskatoon's west
side, it is simply another mind-numbing addiction -- except it
is almost impossible to get off it.
As we head into the hideous
holiday season, the high salaries being paid to corrupt officials
is truly galling. Last month, the Brief Detox centre finally
opened. They showed the place which is joined onto Larson House.
TV reported that it cost over a million dollars. That is to build
it, not the operating budget for which the City has pledged $100K
a year. The accounting for the huge amounts of money (quite a
bit of it from the Federal government) spent to build this thing
are spotty at best. Some are outlined in a press
release from Liberal leader David Karwacki last August. As
shown on TV it is a great big room with beds that fold into the
wall. There are jail-style toilets and a Nurse Ratchett type
glassed in enclosure. Persons who are bought there will be allowed
to stay for three days max. Capacity is for 12 people, so that
amounts to approximately one year of Brian Dueck's salary for
each bed.
Dueck got a huge amount of
capital by calling for such a center and going around the country
as an authority on the need for such things. If the irony is
not immediate apparent, I'm afraid I just can't spell it out
any more clearly.
The following photos are from
the sod turning ceremony in August, 2003. It has really been
a small achievement. arrived at on a timetable which was way
too long. Chief Sabo should not be operating on these slow timetables.
He'd better sweep out the bad apples out before they suck him
under.
|
Truth can never be
told so as to be understood, and not be believ'd. William Blake, The Proverbs of Hell