by KRISTIAN GRAVENOR

Visible minorities who have dealt with Sergeant Martin Dea of Côte-des-Neiges Station 26 have had a lot to say about the strapping, 11-year Montreal police veteran with steel-blue eyes. And they're often saying it in the form of complaints they've filed against the officer at the Police Ethics Commission.

According to Commission documents, PEC judges have repeatedly doubted Dea's defences, but only one of the eight complaints has stuck. But Dea wants it unstuck. This week Dea started legal hearings to try to get the single blemish struck from his record.

But that's not Dea's only upcoming court date. Phillip Duplessis, who has been frustrated in four years of trying to get the commission just to listen to what he has to say about his unpleasant encounter with Dea, has instead launched a $5,800 civil suit against the officer this week.

"This has really taken a lot of my time, but I'm not backing down," says Duplessis, who says he has put so much work into his complaint that it caused him to quit law school.

Duplessis' encounter with Dea happened around midnight March 13, 2000, outside a Pharmaprix on Côte-des-Neiges. Dea, apparently looking for a suspicious short-looking skinhead, instead took his attentions to the tall, black Duplessis.

Duplessis says that Dea spoke in aggressive tones, refused to identify himself and ordered him to hang up his on his lawyer. The Police Ethics Commission refused to hear Duplessis's complaint, citing lack of supporting witnesses. Several attempts to appeal the refusal were also turned down.

"What bothers me is that the many complaints against Dea never prevented him from being promoted to sergeant. Now he's in an important position of power where he trains people that look up to him and learn from him," says Duplessis. While noting that "these aren't Rodney-King-type things he has done, there's still an obvious pattern of rudeness and aggression that seems to be aimed at visible minorities."

Dea was unavailable for comment by presstime.

Some history

Among the complaints that the PEC has heard against Dea:

• On Feb. 16, 1994, Dea pulled over Rajcoomar Ramsaran in Pointe-Claire. His daughter Ramona said she heard Dea call her father a "pighead" in French. Ramsaran claimed that after he approached the police cruiser "[Dea] opened the door, almost hit me with his door, came out, grabbed me there, trying to push me in his car." Dea and partner Lynn Chouinard denied it.

• Dea and Chouinard pulled over Albert Hughes on Jan. 20, 1995, on Gouin W. Dea allegedly grabbed him by the collar and said, "We want to get rid of the niggers on the West Island." The PEC report called Hughes testimony "credible," while Dea's was "not credible."

• On Dec. 27, 1994, Marc Johnston and William Smith were repairing a car when Dea and Chouinard, on the lookout for a robber, allegedly opened Smith's trunk to look through its contents while using "injurious language." Dea also gave a ticket to Smith, for which he was later acquitted. The PEC report again said plaintiff's version was "more credible" while Chouinard's testimony "aimed at exonerating her colleague."

And yet the PEC ruled against the plaintiffs in all those examples, noting that "the committee can't prefer one version over another."

That changed after March 15, 1999, when Imed Gargouri refused to switch tables at the demand of a café manager. Dea arrived and allegedly told the Tunisian, "There's a lot of you in this city and you've got problems." Gargouri later demanded a report of the incident at the police station but Dea blocked him and refused to show identification. Gargouri was slapped with four criminal charges. He was exonerated and, although it's not mentioned in the PEC report, Dea was only condemned for his actions that day because, according to Duplessis, the event was reportedly caught on the police station's cameras.

Dea's zealous methods have attracted at least one more recent complaint. On Sept. 7, 2001, Patrick Senécal complained of being kicked out of the station by Dea and then being pursued by him once outside. The case made it to the PEC, but was immediately settled by conciliation.

Duplessis now believes that citizens should try a two-pronged attack against abusive cops.

"I'd recommend that they take the complaint to the Police Ethics Commission and also file a civil suit. You can then use the evidence from the Commission in your suit," says Duplessis.