RCMP author of Taser e-mail now advising BC on police accountability
by BCCLA
The
British Columbia Civil Liberties Association has confirmed that the police officer whose
e-mail brought the Robert Dziekanski inquiry to a halt for months is
now advising the provincial government on the formation of B.C.’s new
police accountability body.
Dick Bent, along with another senior RCMP
officer Russ Nash, has been hired on a contract that will pay him as
much as $70,000 over six months (including expenses) to “make
recommendations on a strategic and operational framework” for the new
Independent Investigation Office.
“We could understand why the province might bring in
the RCMP to provide this advice if better and more independent advice
were not available elsewhere,” said Robert Holmes, Q.C., President of
the BCCLA.
“But there are civilian bodies across the world that do this
kind of work every day, and have for years. Does it really make sense to
have the RCMP setting this body up when that force’s failures are the
reason the IIO exists in the first place?”
One of the key issues in the Dziekanski Taser inquiry
was whether or not the officers had appropriately evaluated the
situation at the airport in advance of using the Taser. In June of 2009,
an e-mail from then RCMP Chief Supt. Dick Bent to assistant
Commissioner Al McIntyre titled “Media strategy – release of the YVR
video” read, in part, as follows:
Finally, spoke to Wayne and he indicated that the
members did not articulate that they saw the symptoms of excited
delirium, but instead had discussed the response en route and decided
that if he did not comply they would go to CEW [Conducted Energy Weapon/Taser].
Commissioner Braidwood said he was “obviously
appalled” at the late disclosure of such a critical e-mail message,
three weeks after the last witness had testified, and almost four months
after the four officers involved had testified. No explanation was ever
offered about why the e-mail did not surface except that federal
lawyers had “overlooked” the key document accidentally. The e-mail shut
the inquiry down for three months when it surfaced.
“We suggest that the Provincial government stop
asking the police how to investigate the police, because B.C.’s police
have demonstrated time and again that they cannot do it effectively and
in a manner that maintains public confidence,” said Holmes.
“Instead,
the Province should be reaching out to Ontario’s Special Investigation
Unit, the Independent Police Complaints Commission in England, the
Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, and the South Australia Police
Complaints Authority, among others.”
Click here to read the BCCLA’s letter to the Ministry of the Attorney General >>
Click here to read the e-mail from B.C.’s Deputy Attorney General that describes the contracts >>
