Pepper spray not considered: Pilotte

Const. Stéphanie Pilotte said she never considered using pepper spray during the intervention that led to the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Fredy Villanueva.

Pilotte testified Thursday at a coroner’s inquest into the August 2008 shooting in Montreal North. Pilotte was being questioned by the lawyer representing the coroner, Francois Daviault.

Pilotte said her partner, Const. Jean-Loup Lapointe, was too close to the man they were trying to detain, Villanueva’s older brother Danny, in order to do so.

Pepper spray could have posed a risk for herself and her partner, Pilotte said.

The young police officer added that reinforcements would have arrived faster if police cars were equipped with global positioning systems.

Villanueva was shot as the two officers were trying to detain his brother.

In his written report into the incident, Lapointe described how the elder Villanueva was resisting arrest and kicking at the officers. Lapointe said he was even struck in the jaw.

Lapointe said he saw Fredy Villanueva approaching with his arms reaching towards the officer’s neck and his belt, where his firearm was located.

Lapointe said he fired his gun fearing that his life and that of his partner was "in imminent danger."

Two other men, Denis Méas and Jeffrey Sagor Météllus, were also injured.

Need for better communication

Also during the testimony on Thursday, Pilotte was pressed on her preparedness for dealing with ethnic communities.

She was questioned by François Bérard, the co-ordinator of Mouvement Solidarité Montreal Nord, a coalition of community groups in Montreal North formed in the wake of the riots that followed the shooting. The group has been given standing at the inquiry.

Pilotte had spent her 18-month career as a police officer working in the densely populated neighbourhood known for its problems of loitering and street gangs.

She described how she enjoys working with young people and said she treats everyone as individuals, no matter what their skin colour.

 Bérard, a criminologist with 30 years of experience working with ex-convicts in Montreal North said he feels Pilotte showed the right instincts to work as a police officer.

But he said the fact that less than 60 seconds passed between the time the two officers got out of their car and the time Villanueva lay dying is a concern.

"That means that things escalated very, very quickly," Bérard said.

Bérard suggested police officers could use better training on the use of effective verbal communication to help prevent situations like this from turning sour so quickly.

Pilotte is expected to continue her testimony Friday.