Prince George, B.C. – The Commission for Public Complaints Commission Against the RCMP has released its final report into the in-custody death of Clay Alvin Willey in July of 2003.

The CPC has found, "That while the use of force used to arrest Mr. Willey was reasonable given the circumstances, members failed to treat Mr. Willey with respect or decency during his transportation from the police vehicle to cells."

The report by Commission Chair, Paul Kennedy, details 28 findings and five recommendations for change after examining the Aboriginal man’s arrest and handling while in RCMP Custody, but says many of the recommendations have already been addressed with the implementation of more recent policies.

The Commission’s review of the facts details a violent encounter between Clayton Willey and Prince George RCMP Officers. 

Willey was arrested after acting aggressively towards a security guard at Parkwood Place Mall.  He was unarmed and, after failing to respond to verbal commands from RCMP, was arrested by three officers in a violent struggle.  He was punched and kicked twice, pepper-sprayed and eventually hog-tied before being transported to cells.  Upon arrival, he was dealt with by three officers who had not been involved in the arrest.  He was pulled from the vehicle by his feet and, after continuing to strain agains his bindings, was dragged face down across a concrete floor and down a hallway to an elevator door.  The Commissioner writes, "When the three officers filed their written reports, they described their actions as having carried Mr. Willey to the elevator by holding his upper torso up off the ground; video evidence later revealed that that was not the case."  An ambulance was called with the intent of having paramedics administer a sedative, but before they arrived, two officers simultaneously activated their Conducted Energy Weapons in the ‘touch stun’ mode in an effort to reorient him.  The CEWs did not have the desired effect and he continued to struggle against his bindings as he lay on the floor.

While Mr. Willey was in transit to hospital, he suffered the first of several cardiac arrests and died the following morning.  (A Coroner’s jury ruled his death accidental by cocaine overdose in 2004).

Among the Commissioner’s findings, "a number of shortfalls have been identified in both the conduct of attending members and with respect to later actions or lack thereof taken by senior members":

• the use of force by the officers in the arrest and applying handcuffs was reasonable in the circumstances
• the use of pepper spray during the struggle was ill-advised, but not unreasonable in the circumstances
• it was reasonable to apply the hog-tie in the circumstances, despite its use having been discontinued by the RCMP
• the officers who removed Mr. Willey from the police vehicle failed to treat him with the level of decency to be expected from police officers when they transported him to the elevator
• the simultaneous use of the CEWs was unreasonable, unneccessary and excessive in the circumstances
• the RCMP failed to communicate all relevant information about Mr. Willey and his arrest to the ambulance attendants

As for video evidence, the Commission has found, through the use of an independent forensic expert, that the tapes provided by the RCMP were the originals and that a frozen video image that would have otherwise shown Mr. Willey’s removal from the police vehicle was "a result of the video recording system, and not a result of human interference."

The Commissions five recommendations:

1. The CPC reiterates the recommendation from a July 2010 report looking at CEW-related in-custody deaths that, "the RCMP develop and communicate to members clear protocols on the use of restraints and the prohibition of the hog-tie, modified hog-tie and choke-holds."
2. The Officer in Charge of the Prince George RCMP Detachment take steps to ensure that all members are cognizant of the need to provde all relevant information to medical personnel
3. Where the RCMP investigates itself in situations where force is used and the subject suffers a serious injury or dies, a use of force report should be required prior to review by Crown counsel
4. The RCMP should clarify the roles of the investigative and reviewing parties to ensure that both the criminal and conduct aspects of an investigation are adequately addressed
5. The RCMP should take steps to ensure that any video footage is made available in its entirety and in a viewable format to the coroner’s office in the case of an in-custody death and is retained as part of the investigative record

The RCMP Commissioner reviewed the CPC’s interim report has agreed with all the recommendations in principle.  However, CPC Chair, Paul Kennedy, notes it took the RCMP nearly 14-months to issue its response.  He writes, "In my view, this delay was neither appropriate nor necessary, nor has it been explained."

"While the Commission is reassurred that action has been taken to address the concerns raised in its report, the delay in communicating a response does little to instill trust in the public complaint process or support for the RCMP in general."