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Stephen Harrison

@stephenharrison.bsky.social

390 Followers

153 Following

Victoria, B.C. needsmorespikes.com

  2. stephenharrison.bsky.social profile picture

    Stephen Harrison @stephenharrison.bsky.social

    In 2022, a VicPD officer said "Don’t give me that bullshit about people just saying, 'Well, they’re innocent until proven guilty.'" The BC NDP have adopted that rightwing messaging into the following ad.

    Screenshot of an Instagram ad showing the outline of a mobile phone. The background is two hands in handcuffs. The text reads: “Tell Canada’s Federal government: Pass bail reform now and keep violent offenders behind bars.” There’s a button that says “add your name,” and below that, the BC NDP logo.
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    Stephen Harrison @stephenharrison.bsky.social

    Whenever an officer is in the news, it’s always worth searching their name in CanLII. In these rulings a judge found Cst. Scott Eddy, who is seemingly the subject of some public accountability graffiti, displayed “a troubling disregard for the foundational rights that are enshrined in the Charter.”

    [23] As the jurisprudence notes, the assessment of whether an arresting officer's grounds for effecting the arrest are reasonable requires the court to view those grounds through the lens of someone with the same experience, training, knowledge, and skills. Only two elements form the basis of Constable Eddy's grounds for arrest: his observation of the iPad with the white substance on it and the accused's close proximity to those items. In my view, the officer performed a leap of logic within seconds of seeing the accused and the iPad, when he concluded the accused was arrestable for possession of a controlled substance. Aside from the accused being in reasonably close physical proximity to the iPad and the substance on it, there is nothing else that links him to those items. For that matter, there is no evidence that the accused was even aware the items were there on the wall. I say with respect, there must be more before grounds for arresting someone will be assessed as objectively reasonable. [24] Constable Eddy is an experienced police officer. However, the speed with which he decided to arrest the accused and the tenuous and slim nature of the two factors upon which he formulated his grounds for the arrest lead me to believe that those grounds were not, when assessed on an objective scale, reasonable. [25] For all of these reasons, I find the warrantless arrest of the accused resulted in a s. 9 Charter breach.Seriousness of the Charter-infringing conduct [10] While I do not find Constable Eddy was acting with mala fides when he arrested the accused, I am not convinced his actions reflect an entirely appropriate approach either. In my opinion, the speed with which he made his decision to arrest the accused, that is, about five seconds, and the lack of any apparent objective analysis on his part as to whether he had reasonable and probable grounds to make the arrest, amount to a troubling disregard for the foundational rights that are enshrined in the Charter.Impact on the Charter-protected interests of the accused [14] Immediately upon his arrival at the scene, that is, within five seconds of seeing the iPad that had the white substance on it, Constable Eddy told the accused he was detained and not free to leave. In my view, the restriction on the accused's liberty was arbitrary and unjustified and amounted to a serious infringement on the accused's right protected by s. 9 of the Charter.[24] In my view, the present case is one where, even though the charges are serious and the evidence against the accused is strong, the breaches committed by the police are of such a grave nature and the impact on the accused's Charter-protected rights are sufficiently serious that the scale Justice Doherty refers to in McGuffie tips conclusively in favour of excluding the evidence in question.
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    Euan Thomson @drugdatadecoded.ca

    The question is not whether allowing access to regulated drugs is the right thing to do.

    The question is whether enough collective will can be mustered to overcome the carceral bureaucracy keeping regulated drugs out of reach.

    DULF can do it –– with your help. drugdatadecoded.ca/the-most-urg...

    The question is not whether allowing access to regulated drugs is the right thing to do –– that is now confirmed. The question is whether enough collective will can be mustered to overcome the carcer...

    The most urgent legal case in drug policy needs money. For Overdose Awareness Day, give what you can.

    The question is not whether allowing access to regulated drugs is the right thing to do –– that is now confirmed. The question is whether enough collective will can be mustered to overcome the carcer...
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  8. jameswsthomson.com profile picture

    Jimmy Thomson @jameswsthomson.com

    It's not an exaggeration to say there isn't a single word of criticism or reminders of VicPD's many failings under chief Del Manak in any of the legacy news outlets this week.

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    Stephen Harrison @stephenharrison.bsky.social

    Reply to jameswsthomson.com

    Oof. I saw in one report he reflected on his retirement saying "There's no scandal." Wasn't there a big one just last year? I put together an alternate take on his legacy! www.needsmorespikes.com/blog/del-man...

    The city proclaimed August 27, 2025 to be “Del Manak Day.” If the city wants to celebrate his legacy, it’s a good time to reflect on what policing actually looks like in Victoria.

    Happy Del Manak Day — Needs More Spikes

    The city proclaimed August 27, 2025 to be “Del Manak Day.” If the city wants to celebrate his legacy, it’s a good time to reflect on what policing actually looks like in Victoria.
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