Officer testifies senior union rep told him not to write notes after Myles Gray's beating death

An officer with the Vancouver Police Department testified on Thursday that a senior union representative told him not to take handwritten notes after the beating that left a man dead more than seven years ago.

Const. Josh Wong told a coroner's inquest the representative gave him the order as he waited for police watchdog investigators at the department's headquarters after the fight.

"At one point, I had my notebook out and pen in hand, and I was sitting on the seventh floor in a red leather chair, and I was told by a senior [union] member ... not to make any handwritten notes," said Wong, then a junior officer with fewer than 18 months on the force.

"So I did not."

Wong took the stand on the fourth day of a coroner's inquest into the death of Myles Gray, 33, who died in a wooded backyard in Burnaby, B.C., after a confrontation with as many as nine police officers in August 2015.

In his testimony, Wong said a number of union representatives were on the seventh floor at police headquarters after the death, and he could not recall which one talked to him about the notes.

"It seemed very odd to me," he said, referring to the representative's actions.

He said he later typed up a statement in a Word document at home and saved it to a USB stick. The file was uploaded to the police database months later, in 2016.

Allegations of improper note-taking have arisen during a separate investigation into the officers' conduct.

The police chief in charge of the probe said in February six of the seven officers involved in the struggle with Gray might have neglected their duty by failing to take any written notes about what happened the day the man died.

An executive summary addressed to the Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner (OPCC) also said seven officers, including those who have testified to date, might have abused their authority by using unnecessary force during the struggle.

The officers could face discipline as severe as being fired if the allegations are proven, the summary said.

The inquest has heard from several officers throughout the week who testified that Gray was aggressive and threatening their safety after police responded to an initial report saying he had sprayed a woman with a garden hose.

Multiple officers who followed Gray into a backyard on Joffre Avenue near Marine Drive have described their belief Gray was exhibiting "superhuman strength" under the influence of drugs or performance-enhancing steroids.