A third officer, Const. Graham Blackburn, was cleared.Police Chief Mike Boyd said the convictions are a black eye for the Edmonton Police Service."Anytime that a police officer is found guilty of misconduct tarnishes the reputation of the Edmonton Police Service," he said.But the city's top cop said police brass have worked hard to eradicate misconduct."I think it's fair to say that we have been quite aggressive on rooting out police misconduct," he added. "We've also been very assertive at working with our members to try and prevent these situations from occurring - and that's all types of police misconduct."
The chief says he needs time to review the decision before a sentencing is handed down later this month.Boyd was pleased that the decision ruled out racism as a motive behind the police officers' decision."It's one thing for there to be a finding of misconduct," he said. "It goes a step beyond if there's a finding of racism."In the so-called sweatbox incident, the officers rounded up the group from the Old Strathcona area on May 20, 2005, putting them in a police van and driving them around for more than an hour in the heat before unloading them far from the downtown shelters.Presiding officer Insp. Paul Manuel said Friday that the officers' actions weren't justified.Dianne Wood, one of the nine taken into the police van, testified earlier in the hearing.
She initially said she hadn't been drinking at the time, but later conceded she may have had three beers before she and her common-law husband were picked up near Whyte Avenue.Erika Norheim, a lawyer representing five of the victims in a civil suit, said the officers lawfully detained the group but were obligated to take them to a responsible adult or take them into custody.They did neither, she said."They basically dumped them in a part of town they had no connection to," she added.
cary.castagna@sunmedia.ca-- With files from Jeff Cummings and QMI Agency
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