Hubbard family files complaint against Vancouver Police Chief for undermining investigation

Media release - December 14, 2009

[Note from MW: For background information, see Vancouver Cops Kill Homeless Man, Then Seize & Erase Video of Incident and Vancouver Pigs Getting Sued Over Death of Homeless Man.]

The daughters of Michael Vann Hubbard have filed a complaint against Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu over his improper disclosure of a Memorandum relating to the police shooting of their father by two Vancouver Police Officers on March 20, 2009 which resulted in the homeless Michael Hubbard’s death.

On March 28, 2009, Chief Constable Chu sent an email to all VPD staff with the Memo in which he described “incontrovertible” video evidence suggesting that the officers responded in self-defence. This Memo was published two days later in the Vancouver Sun. However, the Hubbard family was not able to see the video until the summer of 2009, months after the shooting, and to date are still not allowed to publicly describe the contents of the video.

The Hubbard family alleges that police used excessive force when they killed their 58-year old father, who posed no serious threat to officer safety. The investigation into Michael Hubbard’s death is being conducted by the Abbotsford Police Department, under the supervision of former VPD Deputy Chief Bob Rich, a long-time colleague of Chief Chu.

The Hubbard complaint echoes a previous complaint filed by Pivot Legal Society earlier in 2009 about the release of the Memo. Pivot’s complaint was dismissed summarily by Mayor Gregor Robertson on July 3, 2009. Reasons for that dismissal were not provided to Pivot, despite numerous requests.

"Chief Constable Chu’s very public and biased description of the video will undermine the integrity of the investigation into the shooting of Michael Hubbard,” according to Nina Purewal, lawyer for the Hubbard family. “This information should have remained only in the hands of the Abbotsford Police Department until the investigation was completed.”

The Hubbard family alleges that the video evidence should have been in the possession of the Abbottsford Police Department, and that Chief Constable Chu’s Memo prejudiced the findings of the investigation by contaminating witness testimony, witnesses who included other Vancouver Police Department officers.

The Hubbard family is also alleging that Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson is in a conflict of interest over the complaint, and should not be permitted to dismiss it without an investigation. The family is asking for an independent investigation to be conducted into the Chief's actions, as well as an opportunity for submissions to be made at a hearing regarding the complaint.

Pivot’s mandate is to take a strategic approach to social change, using the law to address the root causes that undermine the quality of life of those most on the margins. We believe that everyone, regardless of income, benefits from a healthy and inclusive community where values such as opportunity, respect and equality are strongly rooted in the law.

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