Edmonton chief orders review of officer's testimony

Edmonton's police chief has ordered a review of the findings of a disciplinary hearing regarding a stun gun incident 10 years ago.

"I am extremely pleased that...police chief Knecht has taken this action," said aboriginal rights activist Muriel Stanley Venne, who made the complaint earlier this month.

Const. Mike Wasylyshen was suspended for three weeks without pay this month for using a Taser on Randy Fryingpan, then 16, eight times as he lay passed out in the back seat of a friend's car in 2002.

Wasylyshen was convicted of using excessive force and insubordination.

On at least one occasion, the presiding officer of the hearing refused to accept Wasylyshen's version of events when it contradicted that of other witnesses.

Stanley Venne, chair of the Aboriginal Commission on Human Rights and Justice, was told she could not file a formal complaint about Wasylyshen's testimony under the Police Act as she was not present at the hearing when the statements in question were made.

"Although you do not have standing to make a complaint, I, as Chief of Police, have directed a review ... to determine if Const. Wasylsyhen's testimony should be subject of a formal investigation," Chief Rod Knecht wrote Stanley Venne.

Knecht declined to comment on the review, but the Edmonton Police Association said Wasylyshen has been punished enough.

"We think that this matter has been brought to a close," Staff Sgt. Bill Clark. "Const. Wasylyshen has paid his price both financially, emotionally — the stress on both him and his family and friends."

Stanley Venne points out the price Wasyslyshen paid was far less than a female constable who was fired after covering up an affair with her senior officer.