Transit cop who brutally beat UBC student handed 2-day suspension due to discipline delay

A Metro Vancouver transit cop who brutally beat a UBC student more than a decade ago was suspended for just two days without pay in a June decision.

The discipline came despite a public hearing’s recommendation he be dismissed – due to the Police Act process dragging on for almost 12 years.

In disciplining Const. Edgardo Diaz Rodriguez for abuse of authority for recklessly using unnecessary force on the 22-year-old victim, the adjudicator noted the “unusual and unfortunate circumstances of this case.”

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“If not for the serious delay in this matter, I would have proposed, at a minimum, a much longer suspension,” retired judge Ronald A. McKinnon said.

B.C. Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth called the delay “more than excessively long” adding he wants to see governance and oversight addressed in reforms already underway to the Police Act.

“I think the amount of time that’s been taken, quite frankly, is just unacceptable,” Farnworth told Global News on Thursday.

“Decisions should be made quickly. It’s the classic line, you know, justice delayed is justice denied.”

Despite a six month time limit for Police Act investigations to be completed, this one continued for years after the victim was tackled, punched and then subject to a beating at Rupert Station in August 2011.

Diaz Rodriguez delivered 10 baton strikes to the man’s head, neck and back in just nine seconds during an arrest over alleged fare evasion.

In July 2016, the victim, whose name is protected by a publication ban, told Global News the scar on his head is there for life.

“I knew like this was a fight or flight situation, I just got hit so many times I thought I was going to get, like, beaten to death,” he said in an interview at the time.

Diaz Rodriguez was suspended from Metro Vancouver Transit Police operational duties in October 2013 as a result of the incident and the Police Act proceedings.

In 2015, the constable was charged with assault causing bodily harm. Rodriguez pleaded guilty in 2016 and was sentenced to 12 months probation.

2:02 Video of assault on a UBC student by a transit officer released

The discipline authority at the time, Chief Constable Dave Jones of the New Westminster Police Department, substantiated the unnecessary force allegation – which Diaz Rodriguez admitted – and proposed a five-day suspension without pay.

Further proceedings followed after Jones’ decision, where the appropriate disciplinary or corrective measures were at issue, along with other alleged misconduct Diaz Rodriguez did not admit to.

Rodriguez returned to operational duties with Transit Police in October 2019.

Ultimately a public hearing was convened and completed, and counsel declined to pursue the other, contested allegations.

Counsel for the public hearing argued dismissal would be appropriate if not for the delay, and instead Diaz Rodriguez should be suspended for 20 to 30 days.

Rodriguez’ counsel said a five-day suspension, as initially proposed, would have been appropriate if it were not for the lengthy delay.

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David Butcher, K.C., argued there is no longer any purpose to be served by imposing any disciplinary or corrective measures on Rodriguez.

“Const. Diaz was placed on administrative duties for six years, losing tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of potential overtime and missing out on opportunities for promotion and salary increases,” McKinnon argued at the hearing.

Global News requested an interview with Butcher, but did not receive a response.

“Significantly, Cst. Diaz and his spouse decided not to have more children, as they had intended to, because of these financial costs and ongoing financial uncertainty while these proceedings went on,” the retired judge added.

After “much uneasy deliberation,” McKinnon said he decided on a two-day suspension without pay because “to impose no disciplinary or corrective measures at all would bring the administration of police discipline into disrepute, even after accounting for the delay in this matter and its effect on Const. Diaz.”

“I want to make sure that in the future these kinds of issues do not drag on for as long as they have in this particular case,” Farnworth said.

The victim told Global News on Thursday that ultimately the penalty is too weak and he wishes this was all resolved much sooner, adding “it’s contradictory to have a convicted felon working in policing.”