The Vancouver Police Department officer convicted of excessive force in a 2018 arrest has received a conditional discharge with 18 months’ probation and 100 hours of community service.
Const. Jarrod Sidhu was convicted of assault with a weapon in Vancouver Provincial Court Feb. 13 on charges arising from the February 2018 jaywalking arrest of former UBC football player Jamiel Moore-Williams.
Moore-Williams, then 22 ,was reportedly stopped for crossing against a red light in Vancouver’s Granville entertainment district. He was reportedly getting away from a stone-throwing incident.
Sidhu pleaded not guilty in the case in June 2022.
Sentencing hearing Judge Emmett Duncan heard June 14 that Moore-Williams was Tasered three times while other officers repeatedly hit him.
Duncan said use of the Taser was not necessary or appropriate. The second and third deployments were “grossly disproportionate,” Duncan said.
Still, the judge said, the decision and results moved Sidhu into the criminal realm.
Fellow officer Jagpreet Gurman was charged with assault in connection with the same incident, according to court documents. A stay of proceedings was entered for Gurman.
Moore-Williams was not in court in June during sentencing submissions but Crown prosecutor Shannon Gerrie read a victim impact statement from him.
"I hate these guys," Moore-Williams said. "I was treated like an animal. I can't put into words how they made me feel. The police failed me."
“Mr. Moore-Williams was in fear for his life,” the judge said. “Mr. Moore-Williams felt humiliated by how the police treated him.”
Sidhu told the court he felt, "humbled, embarrassed and ashamed."
Gerrie suggested a sentence of 60 days with a curfew followed by one year’s probation.
Defence lawyer Bill Smart suggested the conditional discharge.
"Const. Sidhu held a position of trust as a police officer at the time of this incident," Gerrie said, adding the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that excessive use of force breaches a duty of trust with a victim.
Victim impact statement
Moore-Williams said in his statement he has dealt with years of depression and has to relive the event every time someone recognizes him from media coverage.
He said he had been proud to come to Vancouver on a scholarship.
Now, he fears the police and worries he is being followed.
"Now, this city has flipped over in my eyes — especially in the presence of the police," he said. "I don't feel safe at all. I can't call the police."
After the incident, Moore-Williams was taken to hospital in shackles; he called that an indignancy. He said he fears going to hospital because he's worried about security being called.
Noting Moore-Williams is Black, Duncan said the Crown had withdrawn initial suggestions of racial bias being a factor in the case.
RCMP Taser death
The sentencing came almost 16 years after the RCMP-involved Tasering death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver International Airport.
There, a police officer who repeatedly zapped the traveller with a Taser before he died on the floor of the international arrivals section told a subsequent inquiry he believed the man intended to attack officers with a stapler.
Dziekanski's death was widely seen around the world after a bystander filmed it.
Intense criticism of the death helped lead Canada's federal police to announce last month they will no longer use stun guns against suspects who are merely resisting arrest.
Dziekanski, who spoke only Polish, seemingly became upset after waiting 10 hours at the airport for his mother to pick him up. She was at the airport but he was stuck behind security.
The officers responded to emergency calls about a man throwing furniture and breaking glass in the airport's international arrivals lounge.
All four police officers in the 2007 case were cleared of criminal charges, with a prosecutor saying their use of force was reasonable. None of the officers had spoken publicly about the death until the inquiry.
An inquiry by retired Justice Thomas Braidwood found the officers were not justified in using the Tasers.
Braidwood recommended tighter restrictions on how and when Tasers are used.
