Hearing set for officer who pushed disabled woman
Posted November 13, 2013 11:00 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – A Vancouver police officer facing a two-day suspension for knocking a woman over on a Downtown Eastside sidewalk will now have to explain his actions to a former BC Court of Appeal Justice.
The Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner has called a public hearing in the case involving Const. Taylor Robinson, who was caught on video tape apparently pushing Sandy Davidsen to the ground as the disabled woman tried to cut between three officers on the busy sidewalk.
Police Complaint Commissioner Stan Lowe has appointed former appeal court judge Wally Oppal to examine the case.
Lowe says not only did a Vancouver Police Department investigation of the incident take far too long, raising issues of fairness and accountability for both Robinson and Davidsen, but the discipline prescribed for Robinson could be considered inappropriate or inadequate.
Pivot Legal Society called for a public hearing last week, arguing the VPD’s investigation doesn’t address many of the issues that surfaced during the case, and that the department’s proposed two day suspension of Robinson amounts to an insult.
A date for the OPCC public hearing has not yet been set.
