Nine Recommendations From Complaints Commissioner's Report on Ian Bush Case
By 250 News
Thursday, November 29, 2007 10:37 AM
Here are the nine recommendations in the final report from the Chair of the Complaints Commission into the RCMP
FIRST ALLEGATION:
Whether Constable Koester and the other RCMP members involved in the events of October 29, 2005 from the moment of initial contact until Mr. Bush's death, complied with all appropriate policies, procedures, guidelines and statutory requirements for the arrest and treatment of persons taken into and released from custody and whether such policies, procedures and guidelines are adequate.
FINDING: Constable Koester's cadet and field training were sufficient and there was no failure in Constable Koester's training that contributed to Mr. Bush's death.
FINDING: The RCMP should not have completed the evaluation of Constable Koester's field training until after the investigation into the shooting of Mr. Bush was concluded.
RECOMMENDATION 1: The RCMP amend its field training evaluation procedures to ensure that the final field evaluation of new members is not concluded until all outstanding member investigations, of a serious nature, are concluded.
FINDING: Constable Koester's decision to charge Mr. Bush for consuming liquor in a public place was reasonable.
FINDING: It was reasonable for Constable Koester to arrest Mr. Bush for the offence of obstruction.
FINDING: Constable Koester's search of Mr. Bush, after his arrest, was inadequate.
RECOMMENDATION 2: Operational guidance and/or refresher training be provided to Constable Koester regarding the need to conduct thorough searches of prisoners.
FINDING: The decision to transport Mr. Bush to the Houston RCMP Detachment was reasonable.
FINDING: The decision to leave Constable Koester alone with Mr. Bush was reasonable.
FINDING: The use of CCTV in RCMP detachments where prisoners are dealt with and released is necessary to provide an independent record of events, to promote compliant behaviour by both prisoners and RCMP members and to minimize the risk of dealing with prisoners alone.
RECOMMENDATION 3: The RCMP install automated CCTV recording equipment in every RCMP detachment in areas where prisoners are dealt with and released.
FINDING: The facilities at the Houston RCMP Detachment pose a significant safety concern in that there is no separate area in the cell block for dealing with prisoners and for processing prisoners for release.
RECOMMENDATION 4: The RCMP immediately retrofit the Houston RCMP Detachment to incorporate a separate area within the cell block in which to deal with prisoners and from which to release them.
RECOMMENDATION 5: The RCMP amend national policy to require that prisoners be dealt with and released from the cell block in all RCMP detachments.
RECOMMENDATION 6: The RCMP retrofit RCMP detachments that do not have a separate area in the cell block in which to deal with prisoners and from which to release them.
FINDING: It was improper for Constable Woroshelo to speak with Constable Koester in private behind closed doors about the incident soon after it occurred.
FINDING: The lack of RCMP policy providing direction to on-scene RCMP members in the police-involved shooting death of Mr. Bush may have contributed to the actions of Constable Woroshelo and Constable Dodge which resulted in a perceived lack of impartiality.
RECOMMENDATION 7: The RCMP develop policy that provides direction to on-scene RCMP members in major cases involving investigation of police conduct, i.e. situations where the police investigate the police, including the need to ensure real and perceived impartiality.
FINDING: Constable Koester completed his required duty to account statement on the same day that it was requested, on October 30, 2005.
FINDING: The lack of RCMP policy in respect of a member's duty to account results in uncertainty about what is specifically required to meet the obligation.
RECOMMENDATION 8: The RCMP develop a policy that dictates the requirement, timeliness and use of the duty to account that members are obliged to provide.
FINDINGS: Once Constable Koester provided his duty to account statement he was under no legal obligation to provide a further statement but he voluntarily did so on November 17, 2005. The notes that Constable Koester used to prepare his November 17, 2005 statement were made on the advice of legal counsel and were not notes ordinarily made in the course of his law enforcement duties. Accordingly, Constable Koester was under no obligation to maintain his notes.
FINDING: The NDMCU investigators acted appropriately in providing Constable Koester's lawyer with a list of 18 questions in advance of the February 8, 2006 interview of Constable Koester.
FINDING: The attendance of Corporal Hawkins, the member in charge of exhibits, and Sergeant Duncan, the forensic identification specialist, at the autopsy was consistent with normal practice for police investigations of human deaths.
FINDINGS: Constable Koester had a reasonable apprehension of death and believed that he could not otherwise preserve himself from death other than to use lethal force. Accordingly, Constable Koester acted in self-defence.Given Constable Koester had tried lesser forms of intervention that were not successful, Constable Koester was authorized under the IM/IM to use lethal force.
SECOND ALLEGATION:
Whether the RCMP members involved in the criminal investigation of Mr. Bush's shooting complied with RCMP policies, procedures, guidelines and statutory requirements for the conduct of such an investigation and whether such policies, procedures and guidelines are adequate and, further, whether such investigation was carried out in an adequate and timely fashion.
FINDING: The RCMP Major Crime Unit members who investigated Mr. Bush's death did so in a manner free from any conflict of interest, bias or partiality.
FINDING: There was no unreasonable delay in the RCMP's investigation of Mr. Bush's death and the investigation was completed in a timely manner.
FINDING: The NDMCU conducted a highly professional investigation into Mr. Bush's death in a timely manner and free from any manner of conflict of interest, bias or partiality.
FINDING: The RCMP media strategy for the investigation into Mr. Bush's death failed to keep the public adequately apprised of the status of the investigation.
RECOMMENDATION 9: The RCMP develop a media and communications strategy specifically for police-involved shooting investigations that recognizes the need for regular, meaningful and timely updates to the media and to the public. In addition, the media and communications strategy should include a publicly available general investigative outline of the steps to be taken and the anticipated timeline for each step.
CONCLUDING SUMMARY
FINDINGS RELATED TO THE RCMP INVESTIGATION: The NDMCU conducted a highly professional investigation into Mr. Bush's death and exemplified the best practices for major crime investigations. The North District Major Crime Unit conducted the investigation into Mr. Bush's death in a timely manner and free from any manner of conflict of interest, bias or partiality.
FINDINGS RELATED TO CONSTABLE KOESTER'S USE OF FORCE: Constable Koester had a reasonable apprehension of death and believed that he could not otherwise preserve himself from death other than to use lethal force. Accordingly, Constable Koester acted in self-defence.Given Constable Koester had tried lesser forms of intervention that were not successful, Constable Koester was authorized under the IM/IM to use lethal force.
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Posted by: heidi1555 on November 29 2007 12:55 PM
Constable Koester's cadet and field training were sufficient and there was no failure in Constable Koester's training that contributed to Mr. Bush's death.
What training? The Vancouver fiasco shows about the only training involved is watching Hollywood movies.
The RCMP Major Crime Unit members who investigated Mr. Bush's death did so in a manner free from any conflict of interest, bias or partiality. Ya right and I have a slightly used wooden bridge for sale.
By the way Koester Lives in Kamloops know so be careful down there.
So Koester, Woroshelo and rest involved hope you can live with yourselves.
Folks be careful dealing with cops, its getting dangerous out there.