Stan Lowe reappointed
B.C. police complaint commissioner
No surprise there, given the way B.C.’s establishment consistently thwarts police accountability. So was Lowe’s sinecure renewed despite, or because of, his disreputable conduct?
March 18, 2015
It was entirely predictable that Stanley Thomas Lowe, probably British Columbia’s most obviously corrupt “public servant,” would swing a second appointment as police complaint commissioner. B.C. Liberal and NDP MLAs have always supported this character wholeheartedly, as they did his two corrupt predecessors, Don Morrison and Dirk Ryneveld. It was also entirely predictable that B.C.’s media would report Lowe’s renewed sinecure with their usual lack of critical perspective. Not surprisingly, the announcement came from Katie DeRosa, an especially inept Times Colonist hack with a gullible willingness to believe anything she hears from police interests.
Lowe’s disreputable career shows his wholehearted support for some of B.C.’s most well-known examples of police abuse, as well as some lesser known cases. Lowe continues to prosper in his discreditable career, but is that despite his dishonest pro-cop bias or because of it? So obvious is Lowe’s bias that it’s hard not to believe the latter.
The RCMP’s Robert Dziekanski death squad has had no stronger supporter than Stan Lowe. When Lowe was a senior B.C. Crown attorney he proclaimed each and every one of the Mounties’ cowardly, vicious actions to be “reasonable and necessary.” That certainly didn’t hurt his career. One week later Lowe was appointed police complaint commissioner.
Soon after his appointment, police complaint commissioner Stan Lowe hired Vancouver cop liar Rollie Woods. Lowe knew that Woods, as head of VPD Professional Standards, took charge of dishonest investigations that ignored evidence in favour of complainants, ignored important aspects of complaints, knowingly accepted false or obviously unreliable evidence against complainants, tried to intimidate complainants into changing their statements, used vague, highly subjective or otherwise unsupportable judgements to cast doubt on complainants and support police, and came to decisions before even interviewing complainants. Woods even made up the Criminal Code as he went along. He got away with lie after lie after lie knowing full well his cronies at the OPCC fully supported his corrupt work. Now this double-dipping disgrace continues to lie on behalf of Lowe as well as the police. By appointing this guy, Lowe’s corrupt conduct certainly didn’t hurt his career. His cushy sinecure has been extended.
When Vancouver police constable Taylor Robinson shoved a disabled woman to the sidewalk for no reason, police complaint commissioner Stan Lowe colluded with the VPD to cover up the assault and protect Robinson from repercussions. Lowe’s corrupt conduct certainly didn’t hurt his career. His cushy sinecure has been extended.
Lowe also came to the aid of New Westminster police constable Sukhwinder “Vinnie” Singh Dosanjh after he faced several charges including illegal entry into a woman’s house, assaulting her, illegal possession of firearms while off duty and being mentally unfit to handle firearms. Lowe personally approved of a “penalty” that amounted to Dosanjh getting a three-year, seven-month paid vacation. Despite the seriousness of the charges and the leniency granted to Dosanjh, Lowe flatly refused to order a public hearing. Lowe’s corrupt conduct certainly didn’t hurt his career. His cushy sinecure has been extended.
After Vancouver police constable Lee Chipperfield killed a crawling man by shooting him several times, Lowe hired a self-proclaimed police psychologist, knowing in advance that he always argues in favour of police shootings. Lowe concluded that the opportunist’s bought-and-paid-for but weird rationale “reasonably explained” why Chipperfield repeatedly shot the crawling man. Lowe’s corrupt conduct certainly didn’t hurt his career. His cushy sinecure has been extended.
Lowe enjoys an exceptionally comfortable position. It’s easy to make excuses for cops, lie on behalf of cops and cover up for cops when you work in near secrecy and answer to no one. And Lowe’s corrupt conduct certainly hasn’t hurt his career. He’ll make millions and millions in pay, perks and pensions without working hard. All he has to do is support police misconduct, even including violence against the poor, against women and against the disabled—which he does, as long as it’s committed by cops.
Read more about B.C.’s Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner
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