VICTORIA - The Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner in British Columbia has called a public hearing into allegations of misconduct by two Vancouver officers who were accused of using excessive force and improperly entering a home.
Deputy police complaint commissioner Andrea Spindler says the injuries Vladamir Tchaikoun suffered in March 2016 were serious and occurred in his private residence after what was determined by a retired judge to be an unlawful entry by police.
She says the allegations against Const. Eric Ludeman and Const. Neil Logan were investigated by the Victoria Police Department, which cleared them of misconduct but the commissioner disagreed with the finding and ordered a disciplinary hearing.
Retired judge Brian Neal also cleared the officers of misconduct despite finding they entered the home unlawfully.
Spindler says complainants don't have the opportunity to present oral evidence at disciplinary hearings so the commissioner has granted a request by Tchaikoun for a public hearing because the matter was determined to be in the public interest.
A retired provincial court judge has been appointed to preside at the yet-to-be scheduled hearing.
Spindler says police did not have a warrant to enter the residence, where significant use of excessive force resulted in multiple injuries to the complainant.
“They included a diagnosis from a medical doctor of a probable concussion, damaged teeth, severe bruising of his body including his face, his arms, his legs and his abdomen and also multiple lacerations on his head, his face and lips and nose,” she says.
The public hearing will allow for Tchaikoun and his family, who were at the home, to provide evidence and to allow for the credibility of everyone involved to be fully assessed, she says.
Spindler says details about why the two officers entered the home will be presented at the hearing.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2019.
