justken2u
10-27-2006, 08:30 PM
Many of you were concerned about the crazy ruling surrounding the officer who was jailed in this case. If you are willing to write a letter or think we as a group should do so (see below) then email me back after reading the facts below with your thoughts. Remember your thoughts need to focus on what we know about behavior and reasonable expectations in such situations, training, and not so much US law.
Mr. Ferguson, at the time of his “offence” was an exemplary veteran member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Then Constable Ferguson was on-duty as a uniformed police officer, serving his community as he had for 19 years, and the only such officer on-duty for over 100 square kilometers. Constable Ferguson was dispatched to attend the Hospital in Pincher Creek where he was met by a confrontational and then assaultive complainant – Mr. Darren Varley. Constable Ferguson tried to verbally calm Mr. Varley down. Mr. Varley instead punched Constable Ferguson in the face after grabbing him, and then pulled his jacket over his head and continued to assault this officer. With no back-up and now trying to control an intoxicated, violent, distraught, goal-oriented subject 20 years his junior, Constable Ferguson was able to gain control of Mr. Varley, to handcuff him and to lodge him in his patrol car. After returning briefly to the hospital, Constable Ferguson returned to his car to find Mr. Varley had kicked out the windows. Mr. Varley was under arrest.
As per procedure and his mandate and sworn duty to enforce the law, Constable Ferguson returned to the detachment in Pincher Creek. A 70-plus year-old Commissionaire was on-duty at the detachment when they arrived, but left his post when Mr. Varley became violent and confrontational. Constable Ferguson searched Mr. Varley, un-handcuffed him and moved him into a holding cell. As Constable Ferguson was leaving and about to close the cell door Mr. Varley attacked him – again. This time he pulled Constable Ferguson’s external body armor vest over his head and grabbed his sidearm, gaining possession of it. In the midst of a fight for his life, Constable Ferguson re-gained sufficient control of his sidearm to fire two rounds (as he had been trained to do) at Mr. Varley in a time-span of .5 – 2 seconds (according to the Courts). The first shot grazed his abdomen, the second shot entered the side of his head. Mr. Varley subsequently died from his wounds.
Ø According to Use of Force research, people that disarm police officers go on to kill the officer and other members of the public in most cases. According to the statistics and research, and in consideration of Mr. Varley’s demonstrated violent, goal-oriented behavior, it is highly likely that Constable Ferguson and the elderly Commissionaire would have been murdered by Mr. Varley that evening.
Ø According to Use of Force research, it takes time for officers to respond to a deadly threat and it takes time for officers to stop responding to a deadly threat (Force Science Research Centre – “Time to Start Shooting-Time to Stop Shooting”). According to the science, it is not possible to be responding to the fear of a deadly threat one second (as per the Court Judgment) and to halt that response the next second.
Constable Ferguson wanted to tell his story immediately. He was advised by his Counsel to cooperate with the investigation. Constable Ferguson was assured by his Counsel that he did nothing wrong. Constable Ferguson provided a detailed statement without Counsel present after being awake for 33 consecutive hours on the same day of the incident. This statement was prefaced with the extremely salient comment: “I don’t really remember what happened, but…” Flying in the face of all scientific research on sleep deprivation, post-critical incident stress and memory, this aspect of Constable Ferguson’s statement was overlooked from that point forward.
Ø According to the scientific research, individuals who have gone for 24 or more hours without sleeping are as impaired as individuals who are legally drunk. (TIRED COPS, by Dr. Bryan Vila – Police Executive Research Forum). After going for 33 hours without sleep, Constable Ferguson was in no physical condition to give an adequate statement and should have been strongly advised to wait at least 24 hours and get at least one good sleep cycle before making any kind of statement.
Ø According the scientific research, officers involved in shootings are prone toward variety of emotional reactions including second guessing, memory gaps, inaccurate memories, concentration problems, guilt, and sleep disturbance, all of which could impair the officer’s ability to provide an immediate coherent statement based on the facts of the case. (Dr. Alexis Artwohl, Dr. Dave Klinger, Dr.s Audrey Honig and Steve Sultan, PPCT). This is why the Psychological Services Section of the International Association of Chiefs of Police recommends that “Ideally, the officers should be provided with some recovery time before detailed interviewing begins. This can range from a few hours to overnight. Officers who have been afforded this opportunity are likely to provide a more coherent and accurate statement.” It was NOT appropriate to recommend that Constable Ferguson provide an immediate statement even without the added disability of being cognitively impaired from sleep deprivation.
The completed investigation was forwarded to Alberta Crown Counsel. Alberta Crown Counsel had the Edmonton Police Service and the Calgary Police Service review the incident. Alberta Crown Counsel could not decide whether or not to proceed based upon all of the information they had received. Alberta Crown Counsel sent the file to Manitoba Crown Counsel who decided to proceed with charges against Constable Ferguson.
Constable Ferguson was subsequently told to move away from his homestead in Alberta. The Ferguson family re-located to Kamloops, BC. Constable Ferguson was advised by the RCMP of a possible “Suspension without Pay”, and had to bargain vigorously to remain suspended with pay.
A Crown Prosecutor from Saskatchewan was appointed to handle the matter. This same prosecutor was who was subsequently convicted of malicious prosecution from a trial he handled years earlier in Saskatchewan (the McMartin Daycare fiasco). Constable Ferguson was ultimately tried three times. In 2001, 2003 and 2004. After 2 previous hung juries he was convicted by jury of manslaughter in 2004. A letter from a juror was sent to the judge immediately after the conviction stating that jury members were intimidated by several other ‘very aggressive’ jurors to convict, and that they believed Constable Ferguson to be not guilty. This is on record and was brought forward as an appeal motion. All verdict appeals by the Defense were denied
Constable Ferguson was immediately advised by the RCMP he must retire or risk losing his Pension. Constable Ferguson retired.
Upon sentencing, Constable Ferguson was granted a Constitutional Exemption and sentenced by the trial judge to 2 years less a day for the charge of manslaughter to be served as house-arrest, along with 500 hours of Community Service, taking into account time already served in Remand. Constable Ferguson completed that sentence on May 13th, 2006 along with roughly 1,000 hours of Community Service
On September 25th,2006, two of three Alberta Appeal Court Judges reversed the Constitutional Exemption, thus re-sentencing Constable Ferguson to 4 years in prison, which according to current law is the minimum sentence for manslaughter involving a firearm. A warrant was immediately issued for the arrest of Mike Ferguson. Mike Ferguson left his job as a manager of 35 employees and surrendered immediately because he wanted to be respectful of the system. Mike Ferguson is in prison in BC currently.
Mr. Ferguson is not a criminal. Mr. Ferguson is well-beyond eligibility for parole. If the criteria for the granting of parole are predicated on community risk, likelihood to re-offend, and successful re-integration with the community – these are all assured in Mr. Ferguson’s case.
Mr. Ferguson’s case will serve as a hallmark for police training in the future from an equipment, deployment, training, procedure and post-incident perspective. The law enforcement community acknowledges the loss of the Varley family and our hearts go out to them. However Mr. Varley is the one who initiated a deadly force attack against Constable Ferguson. Mr. Varley could have, at any time during this incident, chosen to be cooperative. He would then have been processed, given some time to “sober-up”, and subsequently released from custody that same morning. Remember, Constable Ferguson had been an officer for over 19 years and had dealt with these types of situations (save the deadly force assault against him) time and time again. Had Constable Ferguson, on the other hand given up, he would likely have been killed in cells at Pincher Creek that early morning. There would have been a funeral service full of pomp and ceremony mourning the loss of yet another police officer trying to protect and serve their community.
The law enforcement community is collectively appalled with this particular judgment and the process which allowed it to occur against Mr. Ferguson. We further believe that a Fatality Inquiry should be ordered in the province of Alberta to examine in much greater detail how this tragic event occurred, in an effort to support positive recommendations to reduce the risk of it ever happening again.
Robert M. Bragg, Jr.
King Co. Region & Program Manager Fitness and Force Training,
Professional Development Division
Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission
19010 First Ave. S. Burien WA 98148
Office: 206-835-7350
Cell: 206-391-8954
Mr. Ferguson, at the time of his “offence” was an exemplary veteran member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Then Constable Ferguson was on-duty as a uniformed police officer, serving his community as he had for 19 years, and the only such officer on-duty for over 100 square kilometers. Constable Ferguson was dispatched to attend the Hospital in Pincher Creek where he was met by a confrontational and then assaultive complainant – Mr. Darren Varley. Constable Ferguson tried to verbally calm Mr. Varley down. Mr. Varley instead punched Constable Ferguson in the face after grabbing him, and then pulled his jacket over his head and continued to assault this officer. With no back-up and now trying to control an intoxicated, violent, distraught, goal-oriented subject 20 years his junior, Constable Ferguson was able to gain control of Mr. Varley, to handcuff him and to lodge him in his patrol car. After returning briefly to the hospital, Constable Ferguson returned to his car to find Mr. Varley had kicked out the windows. Mr. Varley was under arrest.
As per procedure and his mandate and sworn duty to enforce the law, Constable Ferguson returned to the detachment in Pincher Creek. A 70-plus year-old Commissionaire was on-duty at the detachment when they arrived, but left his post when Mr. Varley became violent and confrontational. Constable Ferguson searched Mr. Varley, un-handcuffed him and moved him into a holding cell. As Constable Ferguson was leaving and about to close the cell door Mr. Varley attacked him – again. This time he pulled Constable Ferguson’s external body armor vest over his head and grabbed his sidearm, gaining possession of it. In the midst of a fight for his life, Constable Ferguson re-gained sufficient control of his sidearm to fire two rounds (as he had been trained to do) at Mr. Varley in a time-span of .5 – 2 seconds (according to the Courts). The first shot grazed his abdomen, the second shot entered the side of his head. Mr. Varley subsequently died from his wounds.
Ø According to Use of Force research, people that disarm police officers go on to kill the officer and other members of the public in most cases. According to the statistics and research, and in consideration of Mr. Varley’s demonstrated violent, goal-oriented behavior, it is highly likely that Constable Ferguson and the elderly Commissionaire would have been murdered by Mr. Varley that evening.
Ø According to Use of Force research, it takes time for officers to respond to a deadly threat and it takes time for officers to stop responding to a deadly threat (Force Science Research Centre – “Time to Start Shooting-Time to Stop Shooting”). According to the science, it is not possible to be responding to the fear of a deadly threat one second (as per the Court Judgment) and to halt that response the next second.
Constable Ferguson wanted to tell his story immediately. He was advised by his Counsel to cooperate with the investigation. Constable Ferguson was assured by his Counsel that he did nothing wrong. Constable Ferguson provided a detailed statement without Counsel present after being awake for 33 consecutive hours on the same day of the incident. This statement was prefaced with the extremely salient comment: “I don’t really remember what happened, but…” Flying in the face of all scientific research on sleep deprivation, post-critical incident stress and memory, this aspect of Constable Ferguson’s statement was overlooked from that point forward.
Ø According to the scientific research, individuals who have gone for 24 or more hours without sleeping are as impaired as individuals who are legally drunk. (TIRED COPS, by Dr. Bryan Vila – Police Executive Research Forum). After going for 33 hours without sleep, Constable Ferguson was in no physical condition to give an adequate statement and should have been strongly advised to wait at least 24 hours and get at least one good sleep cycle before making any kind of statement.
Ø According the scientific research, officers involved in shootings are prone toward variety of emotional reactions including second guessing, memory gaps, inaccurate memories, concentration problems, guilt, and sleep disturbance, all of which could impair the officer’s ability to provide an immediate coherent statement based on the facts of the case. (Dr. Alexis Artwohl, Dr. Dave Klinger, Dr.s Audrey Honig and Steve Sultan, PPCT). This is why the Psychological Services Section of the International Association of Chiefs of Police recommends that “Ideally, the officers should be provided with some recovery time before detailed interviewing begins. This can range from a few hours to overnight. Officers who have been afforded this opportunity are likely to provide a more coherent and accurate statement.” It was NOT appropriate to recommend that Constable Ferguson provide an immediate statement even without the added disability of being cognitively impaired from sleep deprivation.
The completed investigation was forwarded to Alberta Crown Counsel. Alberta Crown Counsel had the Edmonton Police Service and the Calgary Police Service review the incident. Alberta Crown Counsel could not decide whether or not to proceed based upon all of the information they had received. Alberta Crown Counsel sent the file to Manitoba Crown Counsel who decided to proceed with charges against Constable Ferguson.
Constable Ferguson was subsequently told to move away from his homestead in Alberta. The Ferguson family re-located to Kamloops, BC. Constable Ferguson was advised by the RCMP of a possible “Suspension without Pay”, and had to bargain vigorously to remain suspended with pay.
A Crown Prosecutor from Saskatchewan was appointed to handle the matter. This same prosecutor was who was subsequently convicted of malicious prosecution from a trial he handled years earlier in Saskatchewan (the McMartin Daycare fiasco). Constable Ferguson was ultimately tried three times. In 2001, 2003 and 2004. After 2 previous hung juries he was convicted by jury of manslaughter in 2004. A letter from a juror was sent to the judge immediately after the conviction stating that jury members were intimidated by several other ‘very aggressive’ jurors to convict, and that they believed Constable Ferguson to be not guilty. This is on record and was brought forward as an appeal motion. All verdict appeals by the Defense were denied
Constable Ferguson was immediately advised by the RCMP he must retire or risk losing his Pension. Constable Ferguson retired.
Upon sentencing, Constable Ferguson was granted a Constitutional Exemption and sentenced by the trial judge to 2 years less a day for the charge of manslaughter to be served as house-arrest, along with 500 hours of Community Service, taking into account time already served in Remand. Constable Ferguson completed that sentence on May 13th, 2006 along with roughly 1,000 hours of Community Service
On September 25th,2006, two of three Alberta Appeal Court Judges reversed the Constitutional Exemption, thus re-sentencing Constable Ferguson to 4 years in prison, which according to current law is the minimum sentence for manslaughter involving a firearm. A warrant was immediately issued for the arrest of Mike Ferguson. Mike Ferguson left his job as a manager of 35 employees and surrendered immediately because he wanted to be respectful of the system. Mike Ferguson is in prison in BC currently.
Mr. Ferguson is not a criminal. Mr. Ferguson is well-beyond eligibility for parole. If the criteria for the granting of parole are predicated on community risk, likelihood to re-offend, and successful re-integration with the community – these are all assured in Mr. Ferguson’s case.
Mr. Ferguson’s case will serve as a hallmark for police training in the future from an equipment, deployment, training, procedure and post-incident perspective. The law enforcement community acknowledges the loss of the Varley family and our hearts go out to them. However Mr. Varley is the one who initiated a deadly force attack against Constable Ferguson. Mr. Varley could have, at any time during this incident, chosen to be cooperative. He would then have been processed, given some time to “sober-up”, and subsequently released from custody that same morning. Remember, Constable Ferguson had been an officer for over 19 years and had dealt with these types of situations (save the deadly force assault against him) time and time again. Had Constable Ferguson, on the other hand given up, he would likely have been killed in cells at Pincher Creek that early morning. There would have been a funeral service full of pomp and ceremony mourning the loss of yet another police officer trying to protect and serve their community.
The law enforcement community is collectively appalled with this particular judgment and the process which allowed it to occur against Mr. Ferguson. We further believe that a Fatality Inquiry should be ordered in the province of Alberta to examine in much greater detail how this tragic event occurred, in an effort to support positive recommendations to reduce the risk of it ever happening again.
Robert M. Bragg, Jr.
King Co. Region & Program Manager Fitness and Force Training,
Professional Development Division
Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission
19010 First Ave. S. Burien WA 98148
Office: 206-835-7350
Cell: 206-391-8954