No charges for VPD jail guards in case that left drunk man with skull fracture: BCPS

CTV News

7 days ago

The Vancouver Police Department's headquarters on Cambie Street are seen in a Shutterstock image.
The B.C. Prosecution Service has decided not to prosecute a Vancouver jail guard in connection to an incident that left an intoxicated man with a skull fracture in April 2021.
The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. forwarded a report to Crown counsel last year recommending consideration of a charge of assault causing bodily harm against a special municipal constable working for the Vancouver Police Department.
On Friday, more than a year after the IIO submitted its report and more than four years after the incident itself, the BCPS published a so-called "clear statement" document summarizing the incident and the service's reasons for not laying charges.
The prosecution service determined that the available evidence against the jail guard – referred to in the document as the 'subject officer' or 'SO' – did not meet the charge assessment standard.
What happened
The document indicates that the injured man – referred to as the 'affected person' or 'AP' – was taken into custody by VPD officers on the evening of April 19, 2021.
He was intoxicated, and the arrest was for 'the offences of indecent act and breach of peace,' which were alleged to have occurred near the intersection of Cambie Street and West Broadway, according to the document.
He was taken to the VPD jail in a prisoner transport van.
'Upon arrival, the AP was still intoxicated,' the document reads. 'Security video footage shows that his jeans fell down repeatedly, and at one point his private parts were exposed. The video also shows that at all times following his arrival at the VPD jail the AP was moderately unsteady on his feet.'
Police reported, and the surveillance video appeared to confirm, that the man was 'unco-operative, particularly with regard to instructions to keep his hands on the wall while being searched,' according to the document.
The subject officer and a witness officer walked the man to his cell, where he lost his balance, fell and hit his head.
Both officers were touching the man at the time he fell, but the BCPS statement says the surveillance video evidence was insufficient to establish that either officer caused the fall.
Charge assessment
When deciding whether to approve charges, the BCPS considers a two-part test. First, prosecutors must determine whether there is 'a substantial likelihood of conviction.' If there is, prosecutors must believe that 'the public interest requires a prosecution.'
In this case, prosecutors found the available evidence did not meet the charge assessment standard.
Beyond concluding that it was not clear that either officer had caused the man's fall, Crown prosecutors determined that they would be 'unable to disprove' a defence that the officers' use of force was reasonable and justified in the circumstances.
Under the Criminal Code, peace officers acting in their lawful duties and on 'reasonable grounds' are 'justified in doing what (they are) required or authorized to do and in using as much force as necessary for that purpose,' according to the BCPS statement.
'In a prosecution, the onus is on the Crown to prove that the legal defences provided under the Criminal Code to peace officers acting in the course of their duties have not been established,' the document reads.
In this case, that means prosecutors would have had to prove that the force an accused officer used went beyond what was necessary in the circumstances.
'The force employed by the SO against the AP for purposes of escorting and securing the AP into cell 1 aligned with VPD jail guards' training,' the statement reads.
'The available evidence does not otherwise establish that the SO employed force against the AP beyond that which was reasonable, necessary, or proportionate for purposes of securing the AP into cell 1.'