Statement From RCMP In Death Of Dziekanski

By 250 News

A/Commissioner Al MacIntyre - "E" Division CROPS Officer

On October 14, 2007, Mr. Robert Dziekanski died suddenly at Vancouver International Airport shortly after being arrested by RCMP members.

The RCMP recognizes the impact that this tragic event has had on the family and friends of Mr. Dziekanski. On November 23rd of last year we met privately with Mrs. Cisowski, who is Robert Dziekanski's mother, to express our condolences. This incident has left many unanswered questions for her, the public and all those directly or indirectly involved.

This tragic incident has also been difficult for the RCMP, most significantly on the four members directly involved. We send our men and women out to patrol the communities we serve, day after day and night after night. They routinely face situations most would run from. As police officers they never know what to expect when attending a call. They anticipate and prepare for the worse case scenario but hope that it does not happen. It is important for all of us to recognize and support our police officers, while at the same time holding them accountable for their actions. The RCMP has been working in support of these two objectives.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team's (IHIT's) thorough investigation was completed and submitted to Provincial Crown Counsel, who, having carefully considered the matter, has made the decision which you have heard today.

The events of October 14, 2007 and subsequent investigations have and will be subject to several layers of scrutiny and oversight, including an independent observer from the Commission for Public Complaints against the RCMP (or CPC), an investigation by the CPC itself into the matter - the results of which will also be made public - a review of the investigation by a senior member of the Ontario Provincial Police, an Independent Officer Review of the actions taken by police in connection with this incident, the Braidwood Hearing and Study Commission and the B.C. Coroner's public inquest. Further information will become public as the remaining processes unfold.

The RCMP is committed to learning as much as possible from this incident and making adjustments to its policies and practices where needed. Since this incident, the RCMP has made a number of changes to its conducted energy weapon policies, training, practices and reporting requirements, and we are certainly open to making further improvements.

Examples of changes already made include restricting the use of the weapons to incidents involving threats to officer or public safety; requiring RCMP officers to be re-certified annually on the use of conducted energy weapons; testing of the weapons themselves; enhanced use of force reporting; and ongoing analysis of reporting on conducted energy weapon usage.

One issue has been debated more than any other in relation to this incident in the past year, and that issue is the use of the conducted energy weapon. There are some who believe the conducted energy weapon should no longer be used by police. There is obviously a lot of emotion around this issue. We do not believe, however, that this is a sound basis for policy making; rather, decisions must be based on facts and scientific data.

The RCMP will continue to work with the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP (CPC), other police services, medical experts and others to further enhance our policies, training, practices and reporting requirements relating to use of force, including the conducted energy weapon.

The RCMP has initiated independent electronic testing of a sampling of CEWs from all Divisions. Testing of voltage and voltage variance, voltage under load and amperage are ongoing.

The RCMP also welcomes the announcement by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) Board of Directors that they will convene a summit of key national players in mid-January to develop a CACP policy on CEWs. The RCMP is looking forward to participating in the process.

We respect the independent decision of Provincial Crown Counsel and thank IHIT for the thoroughness of its investigation. We will now focus our attention on the Braidwood Hearing and Study Commission, and we look forward to Justice Braidwood's recommendations.

Superintendent Wayne Rideout, who is the Commander of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team for this incident, will now provide you with a brief chronology of the investigative process.

Supt. Wayne Rideout - IHIT

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, or IHIT, is responsible for homicide investigations, police involved shootings and in-custody deaths within the Lower Mainland.

I am the accredited team commander for this investigation. My investigators took charge of the scene at Vancouver International Airport immediately after the incident occurred and the scene was contained and secured accordingly. The British Columbia Coroner's service also attended.

As with all major crime investigations, the investigators gathered physical evidence from the scene at the airport. Numerous statements were taken from witnesses in the initial hours, days and weeks that followed. Each piece of information or evidence was evaluated to determine whether a criminal investigation was warranted. Initially the team was conducting a sudden death investigation on behalf of the Coroner's service under the authority of the B.C. Coroner's Act.

The role of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team was to gather evidence to the best of its abilities and to provide that evidence to those who are responsible for decisions and conduct of any subsequent processes, including a Coroner's inquest or criminal prosecutions. As in all investigations, police must protect the integrity of evidence. It is important that evidence be reliable and based on the true recollection of witnesses and not, for example, on what they have heard or seen in the media.

The team gathered evidence and disclosed all of it to Provincial Crown Counsel. Here is a brief chronology of the investigation process.

In the first stage of the investigation, between October 14 and November 30, 2007, the investigators conducted a full review of the Canada Border Services Agency logs and interviewed CBSA employees who were on shift on October 14. Investigators studied the video surveillance tapes, interviewed airport staff and reviewed the security operations that occurred that day.

The investigation team took statements from each of the four RCMP officers who responded to the incident as well as from eye witnesses. There were a number of follow-up interviews as well, with CBSA employees, airline and airport staff and emergency services employees. Analysis of the data from the conducted energy weapon used in the incident was conducted by the Delta Police Department.

In the second stage of the investigation, between December 1, 2007 and March 8, 2008, we sought the expertise of members in the Vancouver Police and Delta Police Departments who specialize in use of force issues. The Canadian Police Research Centre provided a functional analysis of the conducted energy weapon used in the incident and further testing of that CEW has also been carried out.

We received four expert reports on the cause of death from various medical authorities in Canada and the US.

The Video
Part of the incident that took place at Vancouver International on October 14, 2007 was filmed by Paul Pritchard on his personal camera. Mr. Pritchard came forward with that footage and voluntarily turned his video over to IHIT investigators. We held it for three and a half weeks.

There were two key reasons why the investigation team wanted to hold on to Mr. Pritchard's video.

The first was because it contained valuable evidence.

Our second reason for retaining the video was to protect the integrity of witness statements. It was important that their recollections be based on what they had actually observed and not what they might have seen on the video.

Three weeks after the video was obtained, the Coroner had declared that he had no further need for it. At this point in the investigation there was no statutory authority under the Criminal Code to keep the video and as such it was returned to Mr. Pritchard on November 7, 2007.

The Conducted Energy Weapon
The conducted energy weapon is equipped with a recording mechanism, and the data can be downloaded to analyze the activity of that weapon. An independent analysis by Delta Police Department determined that the conducted energy weapon was deployed a number of times. This multiple cycle usage was reported by the RCMP officer who deployed the device in the statement he provided to our investigators the day after the occurrence.

When a conducted energy weapon is deployed in probe mode, two wires are projected from the weapon and electrical current between the probes at the tips of the wires produces a short term debilitating effect. A person's movements or clothing that is thick or loose can disrupt the electrical current and affect the performance of the weapon. The other mode, called push stun mode, causes localized pain in the area where direct contact is made.

The manner of application of the conducted energy weapon was a central issue in this investigation.

Our investigation indicates that during the incident there were three cycles in probe mode and two in push stun mode, lasting for a total of 31 seconds. From the video and the statements by witnesses and police, it is not entirely clear how many of these deployments made actual contact.

The investigation team sought expert opinion from Vancouver Police and Delta Police Department's use of force experts. The conducted energy weapon itself was also analyzed by the Canadian Police Research Centre. As Assistant Commissioner MacIntyre has indicated, further tests of the CEW have also been carried out to determine whether or not the weapon was functioning as it was designed to function. The team has concluded that one of the probes made contact with Mr. Dziekanski's body and one with his jacket. This caused intermittent contact. We expect the inquiry will hear from experts about their opinions about what occurred.

The weapon is intended to assist in the arrest of persons who pose a threat to the public or police in a manner that is less likely to cause injury than other use of force options. The training on the use of that device and the officers' understanding of the purpose of its application, as well as their thoughts as to what they were attempting to accomplish are highly relevant to a criminal investigation. Senior Provincial Crown Counsel has concluded that the evidence in this case does not support criminal charges, and we accept that conclusion.

Pathology
We received the Coroner's pathology report late in February 2008.

The pathologist's determination of cause of death is information that belongs to the Coroner's office. Only the Coroner's Service can make that information public.

We anticipate the medical experts' opinions will be submitted to the upcoming Braidwood Commission and Coroner's inquest. It would be inappropriate for me to comment on them now.

Visit to Poland
Another component of this investigation was the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team's trip to Poland.

The reason our investigators traveled to Poland was to obtain witness statements that would be used in any court proceedings, inquests or inquiries in Canada, and to determine Mr. Dziekanski's activities, health and state of mind in the days leading up to his departure for Canada. The team discovered a number of factors, which they passed on to the medical experts to help them render an opinion in relation to cause of death.

Negotiations with Poland began as early as November 2007 and it took several months to get country clearance and establish a protocol with local authorities.

The trip took place from April 14 to 17, 2008. The investigators were able to observe interviews conducted by the Polish authorities, based on questions that our investigators provided in advance and supplemented by follow up questions through an interpreter. The entire process took place in accordance with Polish law and with the cooperation of Polish prosecutors. A Polish prosecutor oversaw the interviews and heard the evidence, given under oath.

When the investigators returned to Canada, the statements they had obtained were translated and provided to medical experts and to the Provincial Crown as supplementary information to the initial report to Provincial Crown Counsel. Experts used this information in conjunction with all other information to provide their opinions with respect to Mr. Dziekanski's death.

Inconsistent RCMP statements
We recognize that some of the information provided today is inconsistent with what was said by the RCMP at the onset of the investigation.

In the early days following the incident, an RCMP spokesperson stated that the conducted energy weapon was deployed twice. It is now clear that there were three cycles in probe mode and two in push stun mode.

The RCMP spokesman conveyed the information he had been provided from one of the officers present at the airport. That officer did not himself deploy the conducted energy weapon.

The reason the RCMP could not publically correct the information when it was determined that a mis-statement had been made, is that, by that time a criminal investigation had been undertaken. Prior to the conclusion of the investigation, the provision of a report to Provincial Crown Counsel and a determination of whether criminal charges would be laid, it would not have been appropriate to disclose publically the evidence that had been gathered.

The IHIT investigation into the incident at Vancouver International Airport has been concluded. Throughout the process, we have adhered to the policies and principles that apply to all major investigations, and believe our conclusions are fact-based and reasonable.

We are anxious for all the facts to be made public and look forward to the upcoming Braidwood Hearing and Study Commission and the Coroner’s Inquest and recommendations. There may be some questions that cannot be answered except in the course of those proceedings, but I would be happy to try to respond to any questions.

Email | Print | Facebook | Twitter | Digg | Del.icio.us