Vancouver police "beat wrong man"

A blog visitor arrived from google by searching for "Cdn police beat wrong man".

This search relates to the following recent news:

CBC - The Vancouver Police Department has issued an apology after a man said he was beaten by officers who knocked on the wrong door while investigating a report of a violent domestic dispute. Plainclothes officers arrived at the right house at 2 a.m. PT Wednesday near Knight and 49th Street in East Vancouver, but they were at the wrong suite, police admitted in a news release Thursday.

Speaking through a translator, Yao Wei Wu told CBC News that as soon as he opened the door the officers pulled him out of the house and beat him. He was hit multiple times on the back, head and face, said Yao, 44. He said he did not resist because the men had guns.

It was only after they handcuffed him and asked his name that they appeared to realize they had the wrong man, Yao said. The officers then called for an ambulance and a Chinese-speaking police officer. Yao was taken to hospital where he said doctors found fractured bones around his eye and multiple bruises on his back. ... [LINK]

An initial statement by police claimed that Yao had resisted. That statement has been retracted. [LINK]

This incident isn't directly associated with the taser problem, but it is worth posting here for several reasons.

1) The search I mentioned at the top of this post implies that the police beat-up the wrong man. This may be news to some, but it's not the role of police to go around beating people up, not even the right man. So the Google search, not to mention the incident itself, reveals that there is a percentage of the population, not to mention the police themselves, that have entirely the wrong idea about the proper, legal role of the police and the courts (and where good solid beatings fit into that process [answer - they don't]).

2) Seeing what (almost certainly) happened in this incident, provides a useful data point for other incidents. If this sort of incident is indicative of what's going on (and why shouldn't we assume it is?), then it's the tip of a very ugly iceberg.

3) Now, take this incident, and consider tasers. What if this sort of apparently out-of-control police squad arrived at your house in error, rough you up, and then tasered you - to death? All this nonsense about "just obey the law and you've nothing to worry about" is exposed as ill-informed nonsense.

This is exactly why the police are not supposed to act in this manner (for those that require a crystal-clear case). In fact, even actual criminals are not supposed to be beat-up by the police.


This is as serious as it gets.


Heads should roll.

People should not only be fired, they should be charged with criminal offenses.

And it seems likely that thus sort of behaviour might have been going on before (What are the chances it's the first?). Previous reports should be reexamined. Any cover-ups should result in more criminal charges.

Much of this is supported by the Blue Brotherhood of Silence. Which itself must be considered criminal.