The chief civilian director of the provincial agency that investigates police incidents related to serious harm and death believes an offence may have occurred in two cases last year involving Vancouver police officers.
Richard Rosenthal of the Independent Investigations Office has forwarded two reports to Crown counsel related to incidents April 12 involving a police dog bite and another July 15 that ended with a man suffering serious injuries to his leg and ankle.
“In both cases, standard investigative activities were conducted including interviews and examination of physical evidence,” said a statement from the investigations’ office posted on the agency’s website in late December. “The investigations were concluded and forwarded to the chief civilian director for his decision. In both cases, he determined that an officer may have committed an offence and, as such, has sent the files to Crown counsel.”
On April 12, at about 4:20 a.m., VPD officers responded to a complaint downtown and arrested a man. The arrest was done with a police dog. The man suffered serious injuries to his face and had to be treated in hospital.
On July 15, shortly before midnight, VPD officers police chased a man on foot who was allegedly damaging property. The man climbed a temporary fence in an attempt to flee police. A VPD vehicle struck the fence, resulting in the man to fall to the ground, where he injured his leg and ankle.
As is practice, the VPD does not comment on cases under the jurisdiction of the investigations’ office. The department did not release details of the incidents when they occurred.
Crown counsel spokesman Neil Mackenzie wouldn’t comment on the cases but said a media statement would be issued once Crown finished reviewing the files.
The investigations’ office began operating in September 2012. Since then, the agency has asserted jurisdiction over 14 VPD incidents and has cleared officers of any wrongdoing in seven investigations and continues to investigate five others, according to a VPD report going before the Vancouver Police Board Jan. 17.
The report, which was prepared by the VPD’s professional standards section, also indicated the number of “reportable injuries” where a person in the care or custody of officers required medical treatment at a hospital.
In 2013, reportable injuries totalled 195 compared to 175 the previous year. Many of the injuries are related to dog bites, as previous statistics released by the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner has shown.
Also in 2013, the VPD received 278 complaints from the public, which was a decrease of 16 over the previous year. The majority were for allegations of abuse of authority.
In the last quarter of 2013, police concluded 48 complaints, with three substantiated, 15 informally resolved, eight resolved, 11 unsubstantiated, eight discontinued and three withdrawn.
The VPD has 1,327 officers and the report pointed out the department receives an average of 0.03 allegations per officer, which is line with other municipal police services.
