Latest news with #JessicaBerglund
CBC
21-05-2025
- CBC
RCMP officer faces possible charges after man shot in head in 2023
B.C.'s Independent Investigations Office (IIO) has concluded its investigation into a shooting on Vancouver Island two years ago and is asking the B.C. Prosecution Service to consider charges against the police officer involved. It happened in March 2023 and ended with one man in hospital with serious, life-threatening injuries, after he was shot in the head. In a statement, the IIO says its chief civilian director, Jessica Berglund, has concluded one of the responding officers may have "committed an offence in relation to the use of a firearm" and has forwarded the report to the B.C. Prosecution Service to make a final decision on whether charges will be pursued. The man who was shot is also suing two of the officers, alleging they used excessive force when he was in the midst of a "medical crisis." Incident sparked by skid steer chase in Duncan The IIO says the incident started the evening of March 28, 2023, when members of the North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP detachment responded to a report of a man operating a skid-steer loader in a residential area of Duncan. They found him in Evans Park, where the shooting took place. In his lawsuit, 32-year-old Davin Cochrane says he was driving the skid-steer loader through Duncan when police began pursuing him. The chase ended in Evans Park, where Cochrane says an RCMP officer shot him multiple times in the head and body, according to a notice of civil claim he filed in the B.C. Supreme Court. Cochrane's lawsuit alleges the as-yet unidentified officer who shot him was intoxicated at the time of the incident, lacked proper use-of-force training and had a history of problematic firearm use. It also claims a second supervisory officer who responded to the incident, who also hasn't been identified, knew or should have known that his colleague was intoxicated and that their "ability to behave professionally was impaired." The lawsuit claims negligence by the officers caused or contributed to the shooting, saying they confronted Cochrane in a way that made him fear for his life, failed to de-escalate the situation, and did not use other less-lethal means or warn Cochrane before shooting at him. "The use of excessive force by [officers] was unlawful battery arising from gross negligence, or malicious and/or willful misconduct," the claim reads. None of the allegations have been tested in court, and neither of the officers has filed a response to the lawsuit. Lawsuit pending Cochrane, a father of four who says he had turned his life around after a struggle with substance use and a long criminal record, claims he had been in a car accident earlier that day, and the police could see he was visibly "bandaged up." Cochrane was hospitalized in critical condition and says he sustained psychological, brain and physical injuries, and has a permanent cognitive disability as a result of the incident. His lawsuit also says he has been unable to work or care for himself independently since then. "The plaintiff's injuries have caused him pain, suffering and loss of enjoyment of life," the claim reads. B.C.'s minister of public safety and solicitor general and the attorney general of Canada are also named as defendants in the suit, which claims the RCMP, contracted by the province to police certain communities, were not properly trained and that the two governments are also liable for the alleged wrongdoing. They filed a joint response in May 2024, in which they deny Cochrane's claims and say he failed to obey police instructions, resisted arrest and obstructed RCMP officers during the incident. "The apprehension of the plaintiff as well as the means used were reasonable, lawful and executed in good faith," the response reads. The morning of the incident, Cochrane claims he was in a serious car accident that sent his head into the window of a vehicle and caused him to require hospitalization and knee surgery. He was described as "mumbling" by medical staff, and left the hospital "against medical advice" later that afternoon before he could undergo surgery, according to his claim. Mounties said they tried to get him to stop, but that the loader and police vehicles collided. Video circulated on social media shows a man driving a skid-steer erratically as police vehicles weave around him, seemingly trying to contain him, or, in some instances, ram him. Cochrane's lawsuit claims he operated the skid-steer at a very low speed, under 12 kilometres per hour, avoided all pedestrians and non-RCMP vehicles, and drove "in a manner which indicated he did not intend to cause harm to persons and/or property." His lawsuit says that at the time of the shooting, he "posed no imminent or potential risk of death or grievous bodily harm to any other person." Cochrane's claim says he is seeking compensation for pain and suffering, medical costs and current and future loss of earnings, as well as punitive damages from the defendants.
CBC
13-05-2025
- CBC
Head of B.C. police watchdog wants agency to investigate sexual assault allegations
WARNING: This story contains details of sexual abuse and intimate partner violence. The director of B.C.'s police watchdog says her agency's mandate should be expanded to include investigating sexual assault allegations. B.C. is the only province with a civilian-led police oversight agency that doesn't investigate sexual assault allegations levelled against officers. "I believe [it] would lead to the public having a greater faith that these incidents are being fully and transparently investigated," Jessica Berglund, civilian director of the Independent Investigations Office (IIO), told CBC News. The IIO investigates any incident involving police that results in serious harm or death. If the agency has reasonable grounds to believe that an officer may have committed an offence, it will then refer the matter to the B.C. Prosecution Service for consideration of charges. If a municipal police officer is accused of sexual misconduct in B.C., they're disciplined not by an independent body, but by senior police officers from their own departments or from external police departments. Those decisions are then reviewed by an outside agency, the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner (OPCC), which can appoint a retired judge to reexamine the evidence if it disagrees with a police department's findings. Police watchdog agencies in every other province are mandated to investigate sexual assault, with the exception of Prince Edward Island, which doesn't have its own oversight agency yet and is working with the Nova Scotia and New Brunswick governments to finalize an agreement for one. 1 in 4 disciplined officers fired In March, the OPCC published a database of substantiated misconduct and disciplinary measures against officers employed by B.C.'s 12 municipal police departments. The database doesn't track RCMP officers. B.C. has about 2,600 municipal police officers, according to the latest provincial figures from 2023, which don't include the recently created Surrey Police Service. A review of all of the cases by CBC News found that in those involving sexual misconduct or gender-based violence, the officer involved was fired in one out of four cases. The offences range from sexual harassment to sexual and physical assault. Most of the victims were female police officers or officers' current and former partners. From 2009 to 2025, there were 40 instances of sexual misconduct or gender-based violence. In ten cases, officers were fired. In the other cases, officers received penalties including unpaid suspensions or training. Fellow police officers decided the penalties in over 80 per cent of the cases reviewed by CBC. Six of the officers resigned from the force before the misconduct process was complete. In each of those cases, the OPCC said their records show the officers were fired. The offences include a Vancouver police officer who was demoted from first-class constable to second-class constable after he "engaged in sexual activity" with a 17-year-old girl without asking for her age. Another Vancouver police officer was suspended for 12 days after he touched a female officer on her "buttock/crotch area without her consent" at a party, then later yelled at her "I haven't washed this hand since the party." An Abbotsford police officer who was issued a peace bond for assaulting his partner was suspended for one day and had to undergo counselling/treatment. 'Culture of impunity' Danielle McNabb, a Brock University assistant professor who researches Canadian public law and police sexual misconduct, argues the current system of police investigating police "erodes public trust." "It undermines the police's legitimacy when the public is sort of viewing what may appear to be sort of lenient or non-existent consequences," she said. Angela Marie MacDougall, the executive director of the Battered Women's Support Services Society, said she was surprised by some of the penalties that officers received. "It doesn't bode well for confidence in an agency that has a responsibility for being a measure of safety and protection for victims of sexualized violence," she said in an interview. "It's creating a culture of impunity around sexualized violence.... As an employer, I couldn't imagine not taking stronger action, knowing what it means for the culture of an organization." The Vancouver and Abbotsford police departments declined to comment on OPCC matters. The Vancouver department added that it has policies and expectations related to personal relationships and respectful conduct in the workplace. The OPCC told CBC the B.C. Police Act lays out the factors that decision makers should consider when choosing a penalty for officers, which include the seriousness of the conduct, the likelihood of future misconduct and the impact of the penalty on the officer and their family. It said the Police Act says approaches that seek to educate the officer should take precedence, unless it is unworkable or would bring the administration of police discipline into disrepute. Kate Puddister, an associate professor specializing in criminal justice policy at the University of Guelph, says research shows that having an external and independent investigation may facilitate more reports of sexual violence. "The fact that the process in British Columbia is internal, probably, has dissuaded several victims and complainants from coming forward," she said. "So it's possible that the rate of charges being laid or the rate of officers being dismissed wouldn't change, but perhaps the number of cases and people coming forward would be different." More resources would be needed Berglund says the IIO would need more staffing and training resources if its mandate were expanded. "Doing intimate partner, domestic violence investigations requires a very specialized skill set — including being very, very competent in trauma-informed interviewing," she said. A 2022 report into reforming B.C.'s Police Act, which governs the IIO, included a call for a civilian police oversight agency to oversee sexual offence complaints against police. C ritics have said that progress on implementing the act's recommendations have stalled in the three years since. Berglund says she is not currently involved with specific discussions on expanding the IIO's mandate to cover sexual assault. In a statement to CBC, the Ministry of Attorney General said it's deeply committed to ensuring justice for survivors of sexual assault. "Civilian police oversight is an integral component to upholding public confidence in policing and more broadly, the justice system. Calls to expand the IIO mandate in this way is one of a number of issues being considered in response to the recommendations [of the 2022 report]." It said expanding the mandate would require regulatory changes and extensive consultations with police.
