Thankfully, they have all been fired.

VANCOUVER — The RCMP’s top B.C. spokesman blames an “internal communications breakdown” for his unit’s failure to learn until yesterday that yet another officer is facing impaired driving charges, and that he cannot be sure other officers in the province are not in similar legal difficulties.

The department had said in recent weeks that three Mounties were facing impaired driving charges. Meanwhile, officers from New Westminster and Vancouver police have also been charged.

But Sergeant Tim Shields, who is in charge of the strategic communications section for E Division, covering British Columbia, said the division’s professional standards branch told him yesterday there was one more case, stemming from an incident in October of 2007.

During a press briefing, Sgt. Shields said an “internal communications breakdown” fouled up the Mounties’ commitment to let the public know about officers in serious trouble.

“I found out about this incident today …. As soon as it was brought to my attention, I immediately started writing a news release and here I am standing before you three hours later,” he said.

“As the member responsible for communication for the RCMP in all of British Columbia, I personally take this very seriously and I want to ensure I do whatever is possible to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

Sgt. Shields noted in a subsequent interview that the physician in charge of the force’s health-services section had told him of 51 members in recent years who had been treated for issues involving alcohol abuse at a residential treatment program that had a 100 per cent success rate.

B.C.’s Solicitor-General called the situation an “internal communication matter” for the Mounties, but said the force must properly disclose such matters.

“It is important that all police agencies be as transparent as possible in order to maintain public confidence and I am confident that the RCMP will ensure that they do that,” John van Dongen said in a statement to The Globe and Mail.

The new case involves Constable Kulwant Malhi, a 10-year member of the force facing charges of impaired driving, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and failure to remain at the scene of an accident.

Early on Oct. 20, 2007, an unmarked police car rear-ended a car in Richmond and fled the scene. About 30 minutes later, a motorist reported an impaired driver on a highway and followed the car to a home in Delta because no RCMP units were available to respond. Police from Delta arrested the male occupant of the vehicle.

Sgt. Shields said yesterday that Constable Malhi, 41, had finished a late shift in a plainclothes unit and was driving home in the police vehicle when the incident occurred.

He is suspended with pay, and appeared yesterday in Provincial Court in Richmond. His case was put over to Jan. 15, which is the day when another Mountie is to appear in court in connection with allegations of impaired driving related to a collision that left a 21-year-old motorcyclist dead in Tsawwassen on Oct. 25.

Sgt. Shields said there was a system of internal briefing notes to inform his section “as a matter of routine” about officers facing serious charges so that the media could be informed about them.

“There was obviously an internal communications breakdown where the communications section, the very unit responsible for communicating publicly was not informed about this incident. It’s very disappointing to me,” he said.

Check out the full story here.

One city police officer resigned and two more were placed on administrative leave after a dashboard camera captured images of them punching and kicking a handcuffed man in the face.

On May 26/08, Officer Louis Schwartz had pulled a car over outside a CVS pharmacy at 6800 South Dixie Highway when a pharmacy clerk told him a man in a black ski mask looked like he was about to rob the store.

As Schwartz walked in, the man, later identified as Pablo Gilberto Valenzuela, 42, of West Palm Beach, ran out through an emergency exit, turning to spray Schwartz with pepper spray as the officer gave chase, according to police reports.

A video recording captured what happened next:

Schwartz drew his gun and, ordering Valenzuela to the ground, approached as Officer Kurt Graham, who had heard Schwartz’s calls for help over the radio, closed in on the prone man. Graham put a knee into Valenzuela’s back and handcuffed him.

The video then showed Graham punch and kick Valenzuela in the face. Schwartz approached and also kicked Valenzuela in the face.

Later, as Officer Jason Zangara hoisted a bloodied Valenzuela to his feet, the video showed Valenzuela lurching away from Zangara’s grasp. Zangara whirled on the handcuffed man and punched him several times in the face, until the man collapsed on the pavement, the video showed.

Officers hauled him up again and led him out of the frame.

Valenzuela was held at the Palm Beach County Jail on charges of robbery, assault and battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest.

In reports filed after the incident, Graham and Schwartz wrote that they kicked Valenzuela in the face because the handcuffed man was trying to bite Graham’s leg.

“As I was crouching over Valenzuela he began to bite at my lower right leg,” Graham wrote. “I felt his teeth graze up against my lower leg (through my pant leg). I immediately punched Valenzuela in the head in an attempt to stop his biting, at the same instance Officer Schwartz saw that Valenzuela was attempting to bite me, he kicked the subject in an attempt to stop him from biting me. As I arose to my feet I could still see Valenzuela attempting to bite me, this time I kicked him in the head.”

Zangara wrote that he punched Valenzuela after Valenzuela tried to spit on him.

“I instinctively struck him in the face with my right fist to prevent him from spitting on me again as he was full of blood,” Zangara wrote.

In the midst of an internal affairs investigation into the incident, Graham, whom a city spokesman described as a “rookie officer” still on probation, resigned on July 22.

Schwartz and Zangara – whose personnel files are dotted with suspensions and written reprimands – remain on administrative leave this afternoon while West Palm Beach Police Chief Delsa Bush decides their fate, said Chase Scott, city spokesman. It is unclear from the records if they have been on leave since the incident.

In an interview with internal affairs investigators, Valenzuela said the officers broke his jaw and gave him two black eyes and a gash that required four stitches. He said a fight with his wife during Memorial Day weekend triggered a stress disorder that preceded the incident on May 26.

Valenzuela, who said he was trades crew chief for Palm Beach County Facilities Management, said he had no memory of the confrontation or of the events that led up to it.