Civilian police investigator targets evasive Vancouver officers for further probe

Two Vancouver police officers who punched and injured an intoxicated man in 2022 will not face further investigation into their use of force, but four other officers who witnessed the arrest might have to explain their actions to B.C.'s police complaint commissioner.

The findings are contained in a report from Ronald MacDonald, director of the Independent Investigations Office, B.C.'s civilian agency that examines cases of police-involved death or serious injury.

In his probe of the arrest last February, on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, MacDonald says the man had a blood-alcohol level three times above the legal limit when he ran from six officers, who tried to arrest him as he threatened them after intervening in an unrelated traffic stop.

MacDonald says civilian investigators were told the man's multiple facial fractures and broken rib happened when he fell on his face during the arrest.

But questioning of the four officers who agreed to be interviewed revealed he fell backwards, and his injuries came from the punches and knee strikes of officers.

Records submitted by an undercover officer who was not interviewed show he punched the man as he wrapped himself around the officer's leg, within grabbing distance of his gun, but only one of the four interviewed officers admitted to seeing "a bit of a struggle." Meanwhile the member who administered the knee strikes said she didn't see what was happening to the man's head.

MacDonald concludes the knee strikes were justified because the man was close to an officer's gun and the report finds there's no evidence to show the punches were excessive.

'Vague', 'inconsistent' reports from witness officers: IIO

But MacDonald's frustration is focused on the "unsatisfactory" accounts from the witness officers, and he has referred the case to the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner for further consideration. The civilian, independent office oversees complaints and investigations into municipal police agencies and can order discipline under the Police Act

"While it is understandable that witnesses to a dynamic event sometimes have imperfect recollections of it, these witnesses were professional police officers, trained to be careful and accurate reporters of their observations, especially involving incidents of violence with the potential for legal repercussions,'' MacDonald writes in his report.

Instead, he says, interviewers from his office received "vague and inconsistent reports'' full of "implausible gaps.''

"Indeed, three officers initially failed to give obviously relevant evidence until pressed further during an interview,'' the report says.

The evasive evidence raised questions about referring the matter to the Crown, writes MacDonald, but he says it was determined the officers' conduct "did not rise to the level of a potential criminal offence.''

Advocate skeptical of case being handed over

In a statement to CBC News, the Vancouver Police Department said "we support and respect the robust and independent system of police oversight that exists in B.C.," but declined to comment further.

Downtown Eastside advocate Sarah Blyth is skeptical of the case being handed over to the police complaint commissioner, and said police should not be investigating police. 

"They'll protect each other even when doing harm to others and when they go to court and there's a bunch of police officers versus a bunch of activists or people, with so much stigma there, it's a losing battle."

She also questioned whether police should be assigned to work with people using substances, including alcohol. 

"You have to do it in a compassionate way," she said.

"Just because you're an officer doesn't mean you're a good person. I think a lot of people end up working with vulnerable people that shouldn't."

Meenakshi Mannoe, who works with Pivot Legal Society, said this case, and many others, make it clear that police shouldn't be the primary responders when people are intoxicated.

"This investigation shows that sometimes they resort to inappropriate tools like physical violence when a situation can be addressed otherwise."