2007

30 June: “Vest saved officer on scariest day of his life; A year after shootout, he isn’t back on street”
— Trish Audette, Staff Writer, The Edmonton Journal, A1

A year ago today, Const. Dan Furman and his partner walked into the basement of an Edmonton home and found a man hiding with a gun.

One bullet tore into Furman’s left hand. Another hit his left shoulder and severed an artery in his arm.

Still another punctured his lung, causing it to collapse.

Police say Furman’s bullet-proof vest saved his life when Darren James Cardinal, 26, started shooting.

Cardinal, a man at the centre of drug search warrants — whose family said was “getting back on track” after a series of bad choices — was shot several times and died in hospital hours later.

Furman’s partner was not injured in the incident in the basement in the Balwin neighbourhood.

Furman says he isn’t yet ready to return to the streets.

“As much as I’m physically better, there’s an emotional component to it as well. I could see that stopping me,” he says. “Chances are I will go back to the street one day, but not right now … “

3 June: “Playoff patrol walked wild side of Whyte; Invitation to disrobe warranted arrest, police field notes show”
— Trish Audette, Staff Writer, The Edmonton Journal, A1

… For Edmonton and the country, the story of the Stanley Cup playoffs became how police handled the city’s hockey fans — or its hooligans.

“It’s never usually a win-win for us,” says police Insp. Darren Eastcott.

“We had to be able to maintain the peace and order on the avenue, and that meant significant arrests. I don’t think I will ever apologize for that, nor should the police.”

At the time, police would not say how long people were kept in custody, how old people arrested were, or why individuals were arrested.

Through the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, The Journal requested copies of the mass arrest field reports filled out by police officers during the last three Saturday nights of the 2006 playoff run.

Nearly 600 obtained documents cover the arrests of all the people who were taken into custody for hours, but never criminally charged. They show reasons for arrests, where people came from, and whether they received medical attention.

Aside from providing clear statistics, the arrest records — released in April — allow a quickly-scrawled, sometimes barely legible look at what arresting officers were thinking. …