A complaint filed by pot activist Tim Felger alleging police misconduct will be investigated by the Vancouver Police Department (VPD).
The decision was made recently by the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner (OPCC).
In his complaint to the OPCC, Felger alleged that the Abbotsford Police Department (APD) damaged his security system, destroyed a computer, failed to return thumb drives and missing parts of other computers, broke a camera, and made slanderous comments about him to the media.
The items were seized by the APD in May 2009 as part of a drug investigation involving Felger when he operated his Da Kine store on Essendene Avenue in Abbotsford.
Police Complaint Commissioner Stan Lowe ruled that some of Felger’s allegations are inadmissible because they were made past the one-year deadline to file a complaint.
But Lowe agreed that the claims that Felger’s property had been damaged and that some of his property was not returned to him should be investigated further to determine if there was any police misconduct.
He said having the APD’s professional standards section conduct the investigation would be a conflict, and directed that the VPD handle the matter.
Felger was acquitted last December of six counts of trafficking in a controlled substance and one count of possession for the purpose of trafficking in relation to alleged activities at his Da Kine store.
The judge in the case ruled that a search of the store was improperly conducted by police and breached Felger’s charter rights.
The acquittal has been appealed by the Crown, and is slated to proceed in December.
In June of this year, Felger was convicted of possession of marijuana in Mission. He set up another location there – the Das Bhang store/office – after he was evicted by his landlord from his Da Kine store.
The judge in that case also ruled that Felger’s charter rights had been breached in a portion of the investigation.
He was sentenced to 14 days, time he had already served.
