Use of force expert tells VPD assault trial that blows by 3 officers appear consistent with training

A police use of force instructor testified Thursday in defence of three Vancouver officers charged with assault, saying the behaviour shown in video of the incident appears to be consistent with police training.

Retired Vancouver Police Department sergeant Brad Fawcett, who has worked as a use of force instructor for more than two decades, was a witness in the trial of constables Brandon Blue and Beau Spencer and now-retired constable Gregory Jackson.

Blue, Spencer and Jackson have all been charged with assault in connection with the May 24, 2017 arrest of an obstruction and theft suspect.

Fawcett testified that the officers' repeated punches and knees to suspect David Cowie's body appeared to be "distractionary," meant to cause discomfort or a charley horse to the meaty parts of his limbs so that his arms could be wrestled out from under his body.

"The use of a knee strike as I described for the purpose of distraction to allow his hands to come out certainly would be part of the training," Fawcett told the court.

He said the punches he saw in the video didn't seem to have much force behind them, and that the knee strikes he could see seemed to be aimed at the lower half of Cowie's body, consistent with police use of force training.

The takedown at the Commercial-Broadway SkyTrain station left David Cowie with four broken ribs including two that were each fractured in two places as well as a collapsed lung. The trial has heard evidence from an emergency physician who determined that Cowie's injuries were most likely caused by the officers' knees.

WATCH | Surveillance video of the 2017 arrest:

CCTV footage shows arrest that led to assault charges for 3 police officers

11 months ago

Duration 3:28

Surveillance video taken at the Commercial-Broadway SkyTrain station on May 24, 2017, shows Vancouver police officers repeatedly punching and kneeing a theft suspect.

Surveillance video released by the court shows Blue, Spencer and Jackson repeatedly punching and kneeing Cowie as he lies face down and relatively still on the ground.

Spencer has admitted that he kneed Cowie three times and punched him three times within just six seconds.

The officers have testified that Cowie was resisting arrest, and maintain they only used appropriate and necessary force.

Police trained to watch for 'pre-assaultive cues'

During his testimony, Fawcett agreed that Spencer's strikes on the prone man happened in rapid succession, without pausing to reassess the situation. Fawcett said that, too, is consistent with police training.

"Things are happening very quickly. We don't know where his hands are," he explained.

"What typically stimulates a change in response of the officer is a change in the response of the subject."

Fawcett also testified that officers are trained to watch for "pre-assaultive cues" that suggest a suspect might be preparing to attack, including looking at an officer's gun or mouth, clenching their fist or jaw, or adopting a "thousand-yard stare."

He said surveillance cameras would not pick up on signs of resistance that officers on the ground might see, like tensing of a forearm that could suggest reaching for a weapon.

Under cross-examination by Crown counsel Peter Campbell, Fawcett acknowledged that he hadn't reviewed the statements of bystanders, or seen medical evidence outlining Cowie's injuries. He also didn't have access to information about the size, weight, fitness level or strength of the officers or the suspect.

Campbell asked Fawcett if it was true that any determination of whether the officers were acting in accordance with the National Use of Force Framework used by the VPD would be dependent on the degree of resistance they encountered from Cowie.

"The force that they used would only be reasonable, on the use of force model, if one were to assume the subject were more than passively resisting," Campbell said.

Fawcett agreed, but added, "It's the officer's perception, and whether or not that perception is reasonable can only be determined by the trier of facts" such asthe judge.

The trial is scheduled to resume Friday morning in Vancouver provincial court.