Warning: This story contains language that may be disturbing to some readers.
Lawyers for three B.C. RCMP officers facing a code of conduct hearing made their argument on Wednesday for the removal of the panel overseeing their case.
Coquitlam RCMP constables Philip Dick, Ian Solven and Mersad Mesbah are accused of sharing offensive messages in group chats on WhatsApp, Signal and on RCMP mobile data terminals targeting women and Black and Indigenous people.
The trio are now before the RCMP conduct authority, which has the power to recommend discipline, up to and including dismissal, if allegations are substantiated.
But it is communications by members of the police conduct board panel that were at issue on Wednesday.
Wes Dutcher-Walls, the officers’ lawyer, argued the board members should recuse themselves over “real or perceived” bias because emails between them referring to his clients as the “three amigos.”
Dutcher-Walls said while the term was not a racial slur, it was, at minimum, “unbecoming, embarrassing and silly.”
He referenced the popular 1980s comedy of the same name, which in English means “three friends,” and said it evokes an image of three friends always together and participating in similar activities.
That, he said, suggests the board views his clients “all as equally guilty or equally blameworthy” in a case where credibility will be hotly contested.
“Here we go again,” responded a lawyer for the RCMP conduct authority to Dutcher-Walls’ arguments, which he described as a “desperate legal maneuver” at the 11th hour.
The conduct authority lawyer told the hearing there was “nothing pejorative or disparaging” about the term, and noted that the officers themselves had used it at times.
The three officers have been suspended with pay since June of 2021 over the alleged group chat.
Members of the group allegedly belittled Indigenous people, talking about how they were “stupid” or “drunk” and saying they have “unfortunate bodies” and all have Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.”
Const. Dick is also accused of calling female members of the public ”dumb b—-es” and suggesting he would “write off” [quickly conclude] their files. A victim in a domestic violence call who was bleeding from the mouth was described as a “a f—ing dumb bitch, should’ve worn a mouth guard” in another group chat message.
All three officers allegedly used ”goldfish” as a slur for Asian people, describing in one case how “goldfish” have “bulging eyes” that ”can’t see anything.”
“We gotta find a black guy today. This is your competency. I have to taser a black guy,” another message allegedly states.
The RCMP began investigating after another officer made a report to his superiors.
The board is expected to return with a decision on its members on Friday.