Tyee’s Charles Rusnell follows up on the fall out from Edmonton Police Service’s Chief Warren Driechel, and his office’s notorious attempt to publicly pressure the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service and the Criminal Justice System.

Certainly, the article deserves a read because the Chief’s actions in the Rattlesnake case are characterized as “institutional combat”. I’d highlight that the Americans are very familiar with this, because some of their states elect District Attorneys, Sheriffs, and Judges. The US invites this “public brinksmanship” to pit institutions and the public against one another for fame and votes. And, if this is what Chief Driechel wishes to introduce to Alberta, he can always resign now and seek work in the US.

Driechel’s actions have damaged the Criminal Justice system’s core principles, and institutions. Albertans should remember that two senior Crown Prosecutors were terminated, and Justice Minister Mickey Amery denied any involvement in that decision. Also, Premier Danielle Smith publicly supported Driechel, and it’s unclear what her involvement was in yet another assault on Alberta’s institutions.

#EthicalFading #AlbertaUnderSiege #EPS #MeganHankewich #WarrenDriechel #MickeyAmery

#AbPoli #AbLeg #CdnPoli

https://thetyee.ca/News/2026/04/07/Lawyers-Group-Wants-Criminal-Probe-Edmonton-Top-Cop/

https://kopitalk.net/c/canada/p/381567/lawyers-group-wants-a-criminal-probe-of-edmontons-top-cop

Lawyers Group Wants a Criminal Probe of Edmonton’s Top Cop

Tyee’s Charles Rusnell follows up on the fall out from Edmonton Police Service’s Chief Warren Driechel, and his office’s notorious attempt to publicly pressure the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service and the Criminal Justice System.

Certainly, the article deserves a read because the Chief’s actions in the Rattlesnake case are characterized as “institutional combat”. I’d highlight that the Americans are very familiar with this, because some of their states elect District Attorneys, Sheriffs, and Judges. The US invites this “public brinksmanship” to pit institutions and the public against one another for fame and votes. And, if this is what Chief Driechel wishes to introduce to Alberta, he can always resign now and seek work in the US.

Driechel’s actions have damaged the Criminal Justice system’s core principles, and institutions. Albertans should remember that two senior Crown Prosecutors were terminated, and Justice Minister Mickey Amery denied any involvement in that decision. Also, Premier Danielle Smith publicly supported Driechel, and it’s unclear what her involvement was in yet another assault on Alberta’s institutions.

A judge said Edmonton police may have obstructed justice with 'veiled threat' over sentence. What happens now?

https://canlii.ca/t/kjjg2

I think the written decision of the Honourable Justice Fraser deserves a read, and I’ll include the relevant passage here as it relates to the EPS.

The EPS essentially interfered with how the Crown handled a serious case. In so doing, EPS Warren Driechel and others issued a remarkable threat to the courts to say that it would release additional information on the file if the sentence hearing was not satisfactory. The Edmonton Journal’s Wakefield walks us through the fallout.

[18] I find the actions of the Edmonton Police Service to be reprehensible. The veiled threat that they may release more information about this matter if they are not happy about the sentence I impose comes dangerously close, and may actually cross the line, into an attempt to wilfully obstruct, pervert, or defeat the course of justice in a judicial proceeding. I see little difference between the actions of Ms. Hankewich and those of former Alberta Justice Minister Kaycee Madu.

[19] I am at a loss as to how this action conforms with the motto that every uniformed officer wears on his or her shoulder, “Integrity, Courage, Community”. This action shows no integrity.

[20] In Canada, it has long been recognized that the police and the Crown Prosecution Service are separate entities. When that separation is not present, miscarriages of justice can happen.

[21] Although it is not usually my practice when giving a decision from the Bench, I am going to read a lengthy quote from R v Regan, 2002 SCC 12, starting at para 66 that explains the importance of the separation:

The need for a separation between police and Crown functions has been reiterated in reports inquiring into miscarriages of justice which have sent innocent men to jail in Canada. The Royal Commission on the Donald Marshall, Jr., Prosecution, vol. 1, Findings and Recommendations (1989) (“Marshall Report”) speaks of the Crown’s duty this way: “In addition to being accountable to the Attorney General for the performance of their duties, Crown prosecutors are accountable to the courts and the public. In that sense, the Crown prosecutor occupies what has sometimes been characterized as a quasi-judicial office, a unique position in our Anglo-Canadian legal tradition” (pp. 227-28). The Marshall Report emphasizes that this role must remain distinct from (while still cooperative with) that of the police (at p. 232):

We recognize that cooperative and effective consultation between the police and the Crown is also essential to the proper administration of justice. But under our system, the policing function – that of investigation and law enforcement – is distinct from the prosecuting function. We believe the maintenance of a distinct line between these two functions is essential to the proper administration of justice.

[22] Continuing in Regan, Justice Lebel goes on to state at paragraph 87 that:

…The expectation is that both the police and the Crown will act according to their distinct roles in the process, investigating allegations of criminal behaviour, and assessing the public interest in prosecuting, respectively….

[23] I urge the senior members of the Edmonton Police Service to read Regan, and the Marshall report. Hopefully it will remind them of the role they play in the justice system and the reason a separation between the police and prosecution is required.

[24] I can assure everyone present today, and everyone involved in this case, and everyone who has an interest in this case, that I make my sentencing decision without any fear of the Edmonton Police Service’s possible actions. However, I do find that their actions go so far beyond what is acceptable conduct by the police service that it should be considered at least a somewhat mitigating factor on sentence.