Vancouver police constable charged after disabled woman pushed to ground constable, ground, police, woman, Vancouver

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Vancouver police constable charged after disabled woman pushed to ground
By Lori Culbert, Vancouver Sun December 7, 2010 10:09 PM

VANCOUVER — A Vancouver police officer has been charged with assault after a Downtown Eastside resident with cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis complained in June she had been pushed to the ground on a crowded Hastings Street sidewalk.

After a security video of the incident was made public in July — clearly showing one officer pushing Sandy Davidsen down and then walking away with his two colleagues — Vancouver police asked New Westminster police to investigate.

Following a three-month investigation, New Westminster police forwarded a report to Crown counsel recommending a charge of assault against one of the police officers.

On Tuesday, Crown approved an assault charge against Const. Taylor Robinson, New Westminster Sgt. Gary Weishaar said in a statement.

Vancouver police issued a brief statement Tuesday saying Robinson, who has been with the department less than two years, has been placed on administrative duty. (After the incident, he had been re-assigned off Hastings Street.)

The department said it would make no further comment with the case now before the courts.

In a rare interview, Davidsen told The Sun recently that she believed all three police officers had acted incorrectly that day.

“That one guy pushed me down, but the other two, they knew me but they didn’t do anything to help me,” said Davidsen, 27, who grew up in Richmond. “I wish that they actually picked me up.”

Several weeks after the incident, Davidsen received a letter, signed by a Const. Taylor Robinson, explaining the 98-pound woman was pushed down due to concern she was reaching for an officer’s gun. The letter offered an apology that she was not helped up.

Davidsen, who moves her arms as she walks to keep her balance, said she wasn’t reaching for a gun and didn’t find the qualified apology sincere.

She hoped the legal action she has taken will lead to additional sensitivity training for police.

A lawyer representing Davidsen last month filed a human rights tribunal complaint and a $25,000 civil suit on her behalf, claiming the officer who pushed her over showed no compassion for her health issues.

“I want to prove to them, this is how they treat people on the Eastside and pick on anybody here because they think they’ve got the power. This is the poorest place, and we are trying to get by,” she said. “I want justice.”

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