VPD Detective charged with Sexual Exploitation

[Warl0ck]

James Fisher arrested and charged with 3 counts of sexual exploitation, one count of sexual assault, breach of trust and attempt to obstruct justice. If you're reading this I want to ask one thing. Did the oath mean nothing to you? You set your entire service back to the Pickton era.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...sexual-exploitation-and-sex-assault-1.3915994

 

[Caramel]

Hope he was not suspended WITH PAY

 

[Jethro Bodine]

Hope he was not suspended WITH PAY

Yes he would be. Police unions are very strong and this type of thing is entrenched in basically every Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The purpose is because police do have a much higher risk of people making complaints against them, often unfounded, due to the nature of their job.
Whether these would be for minor things such as a citizen saying a cop was rude to them or a criminal matter like this.
Add to that the presumption of innocence inherent in our criminal justice system, they cannot have their pay suspended or other things such as their pension revoked until convicted.
I know it sucks in some cases but believe me there are 100's of cases a year across this country where the complaint/charges are found to be bogus. If you were the accused, I'm sure you wouldn't feel it was fair for you to lose several thousands of dollars in salary during the process.

Cheers

 

[johnsmit]

It might be as simple as seeing escorts

 

[Warl0ck]

Two things stand out.

1. A fellow officer came forth with the allegations

2. He was charged with sexual exploitation (3 counts). That's defined by the CCC as sexual abuse of children/youth. Given that he was a person of trust/power, it's an extremely serious charge & one society demands action be taken.

 

[Ms Erica Phoenix]

It might be as simple as seeing escorts

It's not. One of the victims is a minor, and one of the two victims was a witness in another case.

 

[johnsmit]

Ok
I had figured he met them through his work .Not trying to dismiss any of his actions.

 

[ReluctantPooner]

And of course the abolitionists have to use this to further their agenda: http://www.news1130.com/2017/01/01/womens-groups-calls-vpd-indifferent-exploitation-women-sex-trade/

 

[summerbreeze]

Yes he would be. Police unions are very strong and this type of thing is entrenched in basically every Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The purpose is because police do have a much higher risk of people making complaints against them, often unfounded, due to the nature of their job.
Whether these would be for minor things such as a citizen saying a cop was rude to them or a criminal matter like this.
Add to that the presumption of innocence inherent in our criminal justice system, they cannot have their pay suspended or other things such as their pension revoked until convicted.
I know it sucks in some cases but believe me there are 100's of cases a year across this country where the complaint/charges are found to be bogus. If you were the accused, I'm sure you wouldn't feel it was fair for you to lose several thousands of dollars in salary during the process.

Cheers

lots of false accusations made to police in the line of duty, it forces them to go through a full inquiry and even if they are completely in the right or clear, they will end up having to do community service work to make amends (political issue, mayor and senior officials make it look like they draw a hard line on potential infractions)

 

[Warl0ck]

lots of false accusations made to police in the line of duty, it forces them to go through a full inquiry and even if they are completely in the right or clear, they will end up having to do community service work to make amends (political issue, mayor and senior officials make it look like they draw a hard line on potential infractions)

Correct. But the bigger issue is the male orientated culture of forces doesn't include much in the line of empathy. There are spectacular individual police officers who genuinely care but they work in an environment that makes that difficult sometimes. I get the whole "brotherhood" thing to a degree. That's common when you're doing a tough job and it feels thankless. And no doubt policing is a tough job. The problem is the powers at be who are almost always old white men live in an entirely different generation. They possess that whole "suck it up buttercup" mentality from 50 years ago the sort of just push through it. And you wonder why cops go off the deep end? That permeates through the Service and acts like a cancer.

Police do a poor job at listening to the community, but they also do a poor job at showing the community what they're jobs are like. If they listened better but showed the public WHAT hell they go through on a daily basis there might be more of a appetite to invest more in policing specifically on the needs of the officers. Right now there is a huge wall between police & the public. Until that wall falls not much will change.

 

[uncleg]

Correct. But the bigger issue is the male orientated culture of forces doesn't include much in the line of empathy. There are spectacular individual police officers who genuinely care but they work in an environment that makes that difficult sometimes. I get the whole "brotherhood" thing to a degree. That's common when you're doing a tough job and it feels thankless. And no doubt policing is a tough job. The problem is the powers at be who are almost always old white men live in an entirely different generation. They possess that whole "suck it up buttercup" mentality from 50 years ago the sort of just push through it. And you wonder why cops go off the deep end? That permeates through the Service and acts like a cancer.

Police do a poor job at listening to the community, but they also do a poor job at showing the community what they're jobs are like. If they listened better but showed the public WHAT hell they go through on a daily basis there might be more of a appetite to invest more in policing specifically on the needs of the officers. Right now there is a huge wall between police & the public. Until that wall falls not much will change.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say, you've never worn a uniform. McDonald's and the like do not count.

 

[Warl0ck]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say, you've never worn a uniform. McDonald's and the like do not count.

Oh I'm in the system, but it's not because I committed a crime. Good troll though.

 

[uncleg]

Oh I'm in the system, but it's not because I committed a crime. Good troll though.

Really....a troll. Not likely...just an observation. I find it interesting how people that haven't been there seem to think they have all the answers.

 

[Warl0ck]

Really....a troll. Not likely...just an observation. I find it interesting how people that haven't been there seem to think they have all the answers.

Feel free to DM me.

 

[westcoast555]

lots of false accusations made to police in the line of duty, it forces them to go through a full inquiry and even if they are completely in the right or clear, they will end up having to do community service work to make amends (political issue, mayor and senior officials make it look like they draw a hard line on potential infractions)

False accusations as a result of an investigation conducted as a result of a complaint by a fellow officer.... ? Not so many of them I would think.

 

[summerbreeze]

False accusations as a result of an investigation conducted as a result of a complaint by a fellow officer.... ? Not so many of them I would think.

actually my comment was in general, not in relationship to the officer charged here

sorry, should have clarified in the original post

realize you are commenting on this other comment but felt that in regard to my comment about lots of false accusations that it was not related to this thread

 

[Ghostwalker]

While like anybody else who has been charged but not convicted he still attracts the presumption of innocence. That stated the Crown on BC reviews all allegations before they will approve a charge and their threshold of approval is exceptional high. They will generally not prove charges where the evidence is not overwhelming to the point where it would not erase any reasonable doubt. Most likely they have very credible witnesses whose evidence e is corroborated and they may even have recorded intercepted communications that also confirm the allegations. Sexual exploitation is anyour sexual contact imposed on a person under the age of 18 by a person acting in aoztion of authority even with the consent of the minor. Because the offence is one on breach of trust he is looking at some sort of custodial sentence upon conviction to to mention dismissal from his job.

I would say Det. FIsher's future is looking very bleak at this point.

 

[Kamloopsbc]

While like anybody else who has been charged but not convicted he still attracts the presumption of innocence. That stated the Crown on BC reviews all allegations before they will approve a charge and their threshold of approval is exceptional high. They will generally not prove charges where the evidence is not overwhelming to the point where it would not erase any reasonable doubt. Most likely they have very credible witnesses whose evidence e is corroborated and they may even have recorded intercepted communications that also confirm the allegations. Sexual exploitation is anyour sexual contact imposed on a person under the age of 18 by a person acting in aoztion of authority even with the consent of the minor. Because the offence is one on breach of trust he is looking at some sort of custodial sentence upon conviction to to mention dismissal from his job.

I would say Det. FIsher's future is looking very bleak at this point.

Actually the crown often doesn't care.
A good friend was charged with a few terrible things.
Despite the overwhelming evidence of his innocence they held him in remand in jail for over a year trying to build a case.
Eventually after they stalled and stayed and stalled some more he had his trial.
All of friends knew he was innocent.
After a 3 day trial the judge found him not guilty.
Still destroyed his life.
The crown didn't give a shit!

 

[Ghostwalker]

I can't comment on any specific case where I don't know all of the facts. I can say that we don't live in an ideal universe and there is just as many incompetency if not more in the defence lawyers out there than there are incompetent crown counsel. On the sparse facts that you have provided i would infer that your friend's lawyer really fucked up or you don't know the whole story. Our legal system is far from perfect but generally and sometimes despite itself justice does somehow manage to prevail.

 

[Warl0ck]

Actually the crown often doesn't care.
A good friend was charged with a few terrible things.
Despite the overwhelming evidence of his innocence they held him in remand in jail for over a year trying to build a case.
Eventually after they stalled and stayed and stalled some more he had his trial.
All of friends knew he was innocent.
After a 3 day trial the judge found him not guilty.
Still destroyed his life.
The crown didn't give a shit!

Yes, lives can be destroyed. In this day and age it's trial by Internet witch hunt. When someone is charged with something like sexual exploitation the ugly side of the internet will appear. His family, friends, associates or any supporters will be attacked, perhaps even intimidated or terrorized including children. That's our society in 2016.

Prosecutors can get what is called tunnel vision (as can police, forensics guys, doctors, etc). Rather than let the evidence speak, you manipulate it to what outcome you WANT. It's extremely dangerous & often a mistake made early in a career. Of course when all you see is ugly shit all day it's hard to stay positive. I'm guilty as charged.