B.C. police watchdog investigating after woman says she was seriously injured in VPD arrest
Independent Investigations Office seeking witnesses in Aug. 12, 2023 incident downtown
B.C.'s police watchdog is investigating an arrest by Vancouver Police officers last summer that a woman says left her seriously injured and unable to work.
The Independent Investigations Office (IIO) says it is seeking witnesses in the incident, which happened around 5 a.m. on Aug. 12, 2023 near the corner of Howe and Pender streets in downtown Vancouver.
The civilian-led oversight body investigates all police-involved incidents that result in serious harm or death, whether or not there is an allegation of wrongdoing.
"The investigation continues and will determine whether any force used during the arrest was necessary, reasonable, and proportionate under the circumstances," the IIO said in a Jan. 17 news release.
Andreana Robinson says she had gone out with friends in Vancouver's West End neighbourhood and was walking to catch a night bus home early on Aug. 12 when she sat down at a table on Hydra restaurant's closed outdoor patio.
The 54-year-old told CBC News she was intoxicated that night and needed to rest her bad knee.
She was smoking a cigarette and drinking a can of alcoholic seltzer when a security guard for the building told her to leave. She says she refused, citing her injury.
Robinsons says two VPD officers arrived soon after and asked for her ID as she tried to explain why she had stopped, but the interaction escalated.
"When they arrested me, they tore my shoulder out of joint. And when it was happening, I was trying to tell them, 'I'm hurt, you're hurting me, please stop,'" she told CBC in an interview on Tuesday, noting she had never been arrested before that night.
"I was giving no resistance and just had my hands up."
Surveillance footage reviewed by CBC News shows Robinson appearing to comply at the time officers put her into handcuffs. There is no sound on the recordings, which are largely obscured by an awning.
Doctors say her shoulder was dislocated and her rotator cuff is severely torn, according to medical records reviewed by CBC News. Robinson says she is now waiting for surgery to fix the tear.
When asked for comment on the circumstances of the arrest, Sgt. Steve Addison said VPD was "not aware of the details" that prompted the IIO investigation.
"Due to the independence of the IIO's work, it would be inappropriate for the VPD to speak specifically about this case," he said in a Monday emailed statement to CBC News.
Robinson says the experience has been traumatic and the pain has made it impossible to work, causing her to lose her job as an events co-ordinator.
"I am having a hard time with health issues and emotional health issues," she said. "I have good family, good friends that are helping me through that, but it's life-interrupting."
Fears around role of race in arrest
The IIO says it began investigating on Oct. 19 after the affected person notified the office of the incident. The office, which does not identify affected persons, did not name Robinson in its statement.
While B.C.'s Police Act requires police to notify the IIO immediately of any incidents meeting its mandate, chief civilian director Ron MacDonald said it's "not unusual" for serious harm notifications to be delayed or to come directly from the people impacted instead of police.
"We received the notification late, through no fault really of the police that we can determine at this point," he said in an interview on Monday.
"Sometimes the individual is even taken to hospital and they're released … but [then] they actually will go and have another doctor look at it and realize, 'No, this can meet the definition of serious harm.'"
MacDonald says the office has been gathering medical records and taking initial investigative steps since October, and he expects to be able to share findings in the coming months.
MacDonald has previously said cases are outpacing funding and staffing, leading to long waits for investigations to be completed. Including Robinson's case, the IIO was notified of 96 reports of serious harm and 58 deaths involving police in 2023, according to its online database.
Robinson, who is Afro-Indigenous and a lesbian, says she fears racism or her gender presentation could have played a role in her arrest.
"It could have been race. It could have been [my] gender non-conformity. It could have been a cop having a bad day," she said. "It was definitely a poor choice."
The IIO has previously reported that Indigenous people are over-represented in investigations, accounting for about 15 per cent of affected persons compared to about five per cent of B.C.'s population.
Robinson says the wait has been frustrating, and she hopes answers will bring her some relief.
"I think transparency will clean this whole problem up," she said.
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