Latest news with #B.C.PoliceAct
Winnipeg Free Press
24-05-2025
- Winnipeg Free Press
Police misconduct ruling in death of B.C. woman Lisa Rauch, killed by anti-riot round
An adjudicator appointed by British Columbia's police watchdog has found a Victoria officer committed misconduct when he fired an anti-riot weapon at a woman in 2019, striking her in the head and killing her. Retired judge Wally Oppal ruled for the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner that Sgt. Ron Kirkwood's use of the so-called ARWEN rounds against Lisa Rauch was 'reckless and unnecessary.' No date has been set for Oppal's decision on possible discipline or other recommendations. Rauch had locked herself in an apartment on Christmas Day, 2019, resulting in a police call that ended with her death when Kirkwood fired three ARWEN rounds into the room. The anti-riot weapon Kirkwood used against Rauch fires plastic projectiles, and a police inspector instructed him to 'target' the woman as soon as he saw her, Oppal's ruling said. Oppal's ruling said Rauch, 43, was addicted to drugs and had been drinking alcohol and using crystal meth with a friend at an apartment, when she went into a 'drug induced psychosis.' When police entered the apartment, which was filled with smoke from a fire, they believed they saw Rauch standing in the room, but she had instead been sitting on a couch with her back to them, 'not standing facing them.' Two plastic rounds hit her in the back of the head, 'causing significant trauma,' Oppal's ruling said. Kirkwood, who was a constable at the time of the incident, said he wouldn't have fired the rounds 'if he knew he was aiming at her head,' and said it was difficult to find Rauch afterwards due to the thickness of the smoke. Oppal said Kirkwood's assessment that the situation justified firing the weapon was 'objectively unreasonable' due to Kirkwood's obscured view of the room. He found the allegation of an abuse of authority proven. Oppal found that Kirkwood's failure to make notes did not constitute a neglect of duty. Although this was contrary to Kirkwood's 'common law duty,' it was in line with what his force expected at the time, and accorded with his superior officers' directions, Oppal found. Police Complaint Commissioner Prabhu Rajan said the case involved the first public hearing called under the B.C. Police Act into a person's death. 'Rauch lost her life, and her family and friends are surely continuing to deal with their tragic loss. All involved, including (Sgt.) Kirkwood and the many first responders, dealt with a traumatic experience,' Rajan said in a news release. 'I am hopeful that lessons can be learned from this tragedy.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 23, 2025.
Hamilton Spectator
24-05-2025
- Hamilton Spectator
Police misconduct ruling in death of B.C. woman Lisa Rauch, killed by anti-riot round
VICTORIA - An adjudicator appointed by British Columbia's police watchdog has found a Victoria officer committed misconduct when he fired an anti-riot weapon at a woman in 2019, striking her in the head and killing her. Retired judge Wally Oppal says in his ruling for the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner that Sgt. Ron Kirkwood's use of the so-called ARWEN rounds against Lisa Rauch was 'reckless and unnecessary.' No date has been set for Oppal's decision on possible discipline or other recommendations. Rauch had locked herself in an apartment on Christmas Day, 2019, resulting in a police call that ended with her death when Kirkwood fired three ARWEN rounds into the room. Oppal says this was 'objectively unreasonable' due to Kirkwood's obscured view of the room. Police Complaint Commissioner Prabhu Rajan says the case involved the first public hearing called under the B.C. Police Act into a person's death. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 23, 2025.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
B.C. Conservative MLA questioned by RCMP about leaked documents
BC Conservative MLA Elenore Sturko, a former Mountie, didn't expect to be, herself, questioned by the RCMP. "It is intimidating. Even as a former police officer, when you hear an anti-corruption unit wants to talk to you, it doesn't feel good," said Sturko, the Opposition's public safety critic. The topic in question: leaked Ministry of Health slides released publicly by Sturko in February. The slides revealed that a significant portion of prescribed opioids were not ending up in the hands of the intended recipients but were instead being trafficked nationally and internationally. It also revealed that police were aware of some bad-actor pharmacies allegedly offering kickbacks to clients who got their safer supply prescriptions filled there. The slides were shown to law enforcement agencies across B.C. Shortly afterwards, B.C. Health Minister Josie Osborne announced a significant rollback of the safer supply program. Patients must now consume their prescription opioids in front of a pharmacist to prevent diversion. Sturko saw that as a victory and a sign that the leaked slides forced the NDP government to address the problems with the program. Five days after Sturko went public with the leaked slides, B.C.'s director of police services, Glen Lewis, wrote a letter to the head of the B.C. RCMP, requesting an "investigation into the unauthorized disclosure of the slides … which included sensitive information." Sturko says she was interviewed by the RCMP on April 30. She says the fact that the whistleblower's actions are being probed by the RCMP will have a chilling effect on people who want to bring forward important information. "I think that British Columbians should be very concerned by actions that would silence people from coming forward to their MLA," Sturko said. Lewis's letter to the RCMP was released Wednesday by the premier's office, to back up Premier David Eby's statements that he didn't know about the investigation. "The independent decision was made by the director of police services to request an RCMP investigation," Eby told reporters at an unrelated news conference. Eby says he supports the rights of whistleblowers to bring forward information, and Sturko did nothing wrong by publicizing that. "She was doing her job. I understand why she would be unhappy to get a call from police when all she was doing was exactly what British Columbians hired her to do," Eby said. Minister of Public Safety Garry Begg, also a former Mountie, says he supports Lewis's decision to ask for the police probe, but notes he was not involved in that decision. "He did not ask me, nor did I tell him to do this," Begg told reporters. B.C. RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Vanessa Munn says in a statement that an "investigation was launched under the B.C. Police Act, Section 44, to look at allegations that third-party information was released without authority that could compromise an active ongoing investigation." Munn says investigators spoke with a number of individuals during the investigation to "determine the source of the information shared and if there was a breach of a law enforcement officer's responsibilities." Munn made clear that Sturko "is not now, nor ever was, under investigation." B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad accused the NDP government of "actively trying to put a chill on anyone who speaks against them." Eby fell short of ordering the whistleblower investigation to be dropped, saying he has no control over police investigations. But Eby says a higher priority for the RCMP is continuing its probe into the bad-actor pharmacies that were allegedly offering kickbacks.
