The victim in a case of so-called mistaken identity plead for justice Wednesday at the conclusion of a nine-month Delta police investigation that exonerated two Vancouver police officers accused of using excessive force.
East Vancouver man Yao Wei Wu questioned the findings of Delta Chief Const. Jim Cessford who determined Consts. Nicholas Florkow and Bryan London acted within the rule of law when subduing Wu during a domestic violence call that came from a rental suite at the back of the victim's home on Jan. 21.
In the physical confrontation, Wu suffered a broken orbital bone when officers pulled him to the ground.
"Please tell me, from now on, if the police knocks at the door at midnight, should we open the door or not?" Wu asked through a translator. "For justice, and for vindication of myself, I will pursue this in court."
Wu's lawyer Cameron Ward questioned why the investigation took so long when less than an hour was spent questioning each officer involved.
"Because we had police investigating police, the investigation lasted for nine months and the assailants were not interviewed for four months. Mr. Wu was questioned the next day while he was recovering," he said.
Chief Const. Cessford maintained police are best fit to investigate police but remained open to the possibility of an independent, civilian-led investigation team into police misconduct.
Vancouver police issued a statement attempting to clarify why Wu's case was described first as an arrest, then days later as a case of mistaken identity deserving of an apology by Chief Const. Jim Chu.
Wu can appeal Chief Const. Cessford's findings through the Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner.
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Sketch
- Reporter
- Dharm Makwana currently serves as a web editor at The Province, British Columbia's best read daily newspaper. For more than four years he wrote on issues affecting the Lower Mainland for the province's third largest daily newspaper Vancouver 24 hours. Before arriving in Vancouver in January 2007, Dharm won the John Lott Scholarship for outstanding journalism at Centennial College. Since then Dharm has developed an interest in municipal and provincial politics, crime and policing and social issues including immigration, prostitution and trafficking. He is currently working on a series of stories involving Vancouver's sex workers.
Wisdom
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-Bill Murray
-Bill Murray