Globe: It's an unsatisfying way to run an investigation
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006, Globe and Mail, It's an unsatisfying way to run an investigation
The RCMP in British Columbia act as if they had no concern for the appearance of fairness in investigating a disturbing shooting death involving one of their officers.
On Oct. 29, 22-year-old Ian Bush of Houston, B.C., was shot dead by an RCMP officer while in custody. Mr. Bush had been holding an open beer outside a hockey arena, and was taken into custody when he gave a false name to rookie Constable Paul Koester. He was driven to a nearby police station, and 20 minutes later was dead from a police bullet to the back of the head.
Why, once the RCMP investigation into that shooting had been completed, was it referred for review to a municipal police force in, of all places, New Westminster, B.C.? New Westminster has a police shooting of its own that is being probed by an RCMP-led team. The investigation into that shooting, of a teenage passenger in a stolen car last August, is still in progress. So let's get this straight: The RCMP is investigating a New Westminster officer at the very same time that New Westminster is reviewing an investigation into an RCMP officer? Doesn't that look just a bit too cozy to anyone in the RCMP (or in New Westminster, for that matter)?
It does to Rob Gordon, a criminology professor and the director of Simon Fraser University's School of Criminology in Vancouver. "The optics are not good. I'm a little surprised they haven't chosen another police force," he said yesterday of the RCMP.
In any police shooting, justice must be seen to be done. That is difficult enough when the RCMP investigate themselves in such cases. But why did they turn to another detachment in the same district to investigate the shooting of Ian Bush? The serious-crimes unit of the Prince George detachment, 350 kilometres away, which is investigating the Bush shooting, falls within the North District of the province's RCMP. "That's too close, in my view," said Prof. Gordon. Why not ask an out-of-province detachment, or at the very least a detachment in another district?
The RCMP seem to be going out of their way to raise questions. Why is there no decision yet on whether to lay charges in the Bush shooting (or for that matter in the New Westminster shooting of 16-year-old Kyle Tait last August)? In Ontario, of the seven police fatal shootings last year, five were investigated and closed with 38 days; only two are still being probed.
The slow pace and poor optics are every bit as bad for the RCMP as they are for the public at large. If the officer involved in the Bush shooting is cleared, how will the public trust that the process was fair?
The RCMP have shown little inclination to answer questions. A spokesman in Ottawa referred The Globe and Mail to a spokesman in B.C., who did not return a phone call. In a letter to The Globe's managing editor, the RCMP's deputy commissioner in the Pacific Region said that "these investigations take time and it is important to do them right."
What happened to Ian Bush is virtually unheard of in this country. It demands an investigation of the highest priority and quality. "This is an extraordinary event," said Prof. Gordon, "and it's one that needs to be investigated very quickly." Apart from blind faith in the RCMP, there seems little reason to believe this investigation is being given the priority it deserves.
The RCMP in British Columbia act as if they had no concern for the appearance of fairness in investigating a disturbing shooting death involving one of their officers.
On Oct. 29, 22-year-old Ian Bush of Houston, B.C., was shot dead by an RCMP officer while in custody. Mr. Bush had been holding an open beer outside a hockey arena, and was taken into custody when he gave a false name to rookie Constable Paul Koester. He was driven to a nearby police station, and 20 minutes later was dead from a police bullet to the back of the head.
Why, once the RCMP investigation into that shooting had been completed, was it referred for review to a municipal police force in, of all places, New Westminster, B.C.? New Westminster has a police shooting of its own that is being probed by an RCMP-led team. The investigation into that shooting, of a teenage passenger in a stolen car last August, is still in progress. So let's get this straight: The RCMP is investigating a New Westminster officer at the very same time that New Westminster is reviewing an investigation into an RCMP officer? Doesn't that look just a bit too cozy to anyone in the RCMP (or in New Westminster, for that matter)?
It does to Rob Gordon, a criminology professor and the director of Simon Fraser University's School of Criminology in Vancouver. "The optics are not good. I'm a little surprised they haven't chosen another police force," he said yesterday of the RCMP.
In any police shooting, justice must be seen to be done. That is difficult enough when the RCMP investigate themselves in such cases. But why did they turn to another detachment in the same district to investigate the shooting of Ian Bush? The serious-crimes unit of the Prince George detachment, 350 kilometres away, which is investigating the Bush shooting, falls within the North District of the province's RCMP. "That's too close, in my view," said Prof. Gordon. Why not ask an out-of-province detachment, or at the very least a detachment in another district?
The RCMP seem to be going out of their way to raise questions. Why is there no decision yet on whether to lay charges in the Bush shooting (or for that matter in the New Westminster shooting of 16-year-old Kyle Tait last August)? In Ontario, of the seven police fatal shootings last year, five were investigated and closed with 38 days; only two are still being probed.
The slow pace and poor optics are every bit as bad for the RCMP as they are for the public at large. If the officer involved in the Bush shooting is cleared, how will the public trust that the process was fair?
The RCMP have shown little inclination to answer questions. A spokesman in Ottawa referred The Globe and Mail to a spokesman in B.C., who did not return a phone call. In a letter to The Globe's managing editor, the RCMP's deputy commissioner in the Pacific Region said that "these investigations take time and it is important to do them right."
What happened to Ian Bush is virtually unheard of in this country. It demands an investigation of the highest priority and quality. "This is an extraordinary event," said Prof. Gordon, "and it's one that needs to be investigated very quickly." Apart from blind faith in the RCMP, there seems little reason to believe this investigation is being given the priority it deserves.
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