Allegations of police misconduct resurface

Edmonton - A retired police officer says he was ordered to shelve his investigation into allegations that police officers were demanding sexual favours from prostitutes 20 years ago.

The resurfacing of those allegations has led Martin Ignasiak, head of the Edmonton police commission, to call for an independent agency to investigate complaints against police officers. But he says if a system of third-party investigation is developed, he wouldn't ask it to look into these two-decade-old allegations.

Vern Colley, the officer who looked into complaints from 23 women, says in an affidavit he was ordered to shelve his investigation, which came up with nine names, soon after it started in 1983.

One of the names Colley had on his list was now Chief Bob Wasylyshen, who says he was "wrongly identified while Mr. Colley was using improper and unreliable methods to identify possible suspects. The allegation that I engaged in any misconduct is false."

The underlining is mine. I actually laughed out loud when I read this article this morning. I've been a non-fan of Bob Wasylyshen for some time, and it appears that I may have actually been on to something (No smoke without fire, after all). Now, I'm not saying for certain that Chief Bob was getting his wick dipped by hookers for free 20 years ago, but from what I've read of the man and his attitude towards the general public (an attitude that has unfortunately spread throughout the police force), I sure as hell wouldn't be surprised if that turned out to be the case. I will be surprised if anything is actually done about these allegations, however...