CaribWorldNews, TORONTO, Canada, Fri. May 23, 2008: A Guyana-born man, who has dedicated most of his waking hours helping youth in an at-risk community in Toronto and coaching them to avoid the guns and gangs mentality, is still reeling over a police raid of his house early Sunday morning.

Brian Henry, originally from Kitty, Georgetown, Guyana, lives in Malvern, Canada, an area that is known to have many guns and gangs. But through his diligence and close working relationship with the police officers in his area as executive director of a community based, not-for-profit, youth organization, `Helping Others Develop Life In Neighboring Communities,`(HOODLINC), a number of guns have been retrieved and gangs dissolved.

But on Sunday, May 18, Henry told CWN that he not only faced the wrath of the police, who are from another division, but his wife and five young children, who are under 10, were also subjected to the cops anger.

`I got home late that night, as usual, and was watching TV, when I heard a loud bang.  At first I thought it was the kids in the community and my dogs were going crazy.  My wife ran downstairs, then I heard my kids screaming and by the time I reached downstairs, three officers were on top of my wife.  They handcuffed me and my wife and had us on the ground, in the presence of my kids,` Henry reminisced.

`The implication is so broad and my children are so quiet.  I don’t know what they are thinking,` he said, adding that his wife, who had their last child just three weeks ago was physically assaulted
by the officers.

For about one hour, the police allegedly ransacked Henry’s home looking for guns and drugs and found a small quantity of marijuana.  But at the end of it all he was given a violation ticket.
 
`It’s kind of weird that it is happening to me and it’s happening all the time, in the last six months.  I don’t have much, not even a living room suite,` said Henry. `Here I am dirt poor and doing the right thing…  I am never home because I am out all day from six in the morning.  My wife is home raising our children and I’m taking care of others kids.’

Henry said the officers claimed they received a call that he had weapons in his house adding that they kept saying `we have a warrant, we are going to show it to you and we’ll leave it on the table.` But he said he saw no such document.

Toronto Police media relations officer, Detective Constable, Tony Vella, however, told CaribWorldNews that before the police could search someone’s home, there must be reasonable grounds and that a criminal code search warrant must be executed by an independent authority such as a provincial court judge or a justice of peace. 

He said the officers were informed of a possible illegal firearm in Henry’s house but their search did not find such a weapon but that
a quantity of marijuana was found and Henry has promised to appear in court.

When asked why the reportedly excess force by the officers, Vella said they have to use `extreme precaution` in a situation like the one they were going after.

Henry said there have been three raids in the area since January this year and the police have not found anything.  

Dr.  Anthony Hutchinson, former Ryerson University social work professor who is Henry’s mentor and was instrumental in setting up the administrative framework for the program Henry runs, said `a public inquiry needs to be called to the abuse of police power against Brian Henry and his family. He also insists that Brian Henry and his family need to be financially compensated for the pain, destruction and violations committed against them by officers from Metro Toronto Police 41 Division.`

Hutchinson personally financed the HOODLINC project adding that the financial cost of the operation on Henry’s home could have been better used on improving the lives of the youth in the community. 

`As the only day-to-day, `on-the-ground` community leader who engages and transforms the lives of `high-risk` youth in Malvern in a positive, effective way - such treatment of Brian Henry is an injustice, disgrace and abuse of police power in our society,` said Hutchinson.

He said he is exploring an avenue to deal with the matter noting that the raid has `knocked Brian’s work a number of steps backwards.` –  (Reported by Jasminee Sahoye/CWN Canada)