6 days ago
Family of B.C. Mountie who took own life angry officer she was involved with now with SPS
NOTE: This article contains sensitive descriptions regarding suicide. Please read at your discretion.
The family of a Richmond RCMP officer who took her own life four years ago is upset the senior officer with whom she was involved in a relationship has now been hired by the Surrey Police Service.
Const. Jasmine Thiara died by suicide on Richmond's Moray Bridge on Feb. 21, 2021, shortly after texting a colleague that she was being bullied by a senior Mountie she was involved with.
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'She had so much life to live, and she was so ambitious; this wasn't a person with suicidal ideation, this was someone planning for the future of herself and her unborn child,' Raven Thiara, Jasmine's sister, told Global News on Wednesday.
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'We weren't just robbed of my sister's future and her turning 30, but also of my niece or nephew, who now would be growing into a toddler.'
A subsequent probe by the Independent Investigations Office concluded there was no evidence of bullying or criminal harassment that led to her death.
The officer faced a separate internal RCMP code of conduct investigation, the results of which the force will not release, citing the Privacy Act. However, the RCMP did confirm he voluntarily resigned earlier this year.
Raven said the force hasn't disclosed the results of that probe to the family either.
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'The issue with that is transparency and accountability are the two things we've been exploring and imploring the RCMP for since the onset of my sister's loss. These issues that have gone on are not isolated, they're systemic, as we also saw with the death of (Vancouver police Const.) Nicole Chan, who also passed after being bullied to death,' she said.
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'I wanted to bring closure to the public's chapter, too, on where is he now? What is he doing now, and has anything changed? But we still haven't gotten all those answers to provide that closure.'
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Global News confirmed with the SPS that the officer has since signed on as a constable with the municipal force.
SPS spokesperson S/Sgt. Lindsey Houghton said the department was fully aware of his background, but noted that several investigations had failed to substantiate any allegation of misconduct or criminality.
'What I'd say first is I certainly empathize with what the family has been through. I personally have known other police officers who have committed suicide. It's tragic,' Houghton said.
'We never want this to happen. The other thing that I will say is that multiple independent agencies investigated this case, and have come to, from what we are aware (is), the same conclusion. They have not substantiated anything related to bullying, nor have they found any criminal conduct. So I hope that at some point the family can find some closure.
It's not an answer Thiara's family is happy to accept.
1:55
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'I'm concerned and alarmed, I feel a lack of security there — what is the vetting process, and what is the threshold for when you can become an answer a call to service?' Raven said.
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She also questioned whether the officer truly 'resigned,' noting that he took a position at a lower rank with the SPS.
'I believe that this is semantics and another way to evade accountability by the police, because if they say he left on his own volition, under goodwill, it's hard for us to pursue further litigation, especially on the civil front for a wrongful death and wrongdoing, because, again, there is no wrongdoing admitted to,' she said.
Raven said the family isn't finished pursuing Jasmine's case, and hasn't ruled out private legal action.
She said the family has also filed a complaint through the Surrey Police Board.
'We're entitled to feel safe when we call someone to service. We're entitled to know who's coming to our door with a gun and badge, and we're entitled to know if that history includes any investigation into the death of a deceased partner,' she said.
'I'm patient. I believe the road to justice is long, and we're here for that whole road, we will see justice through. And I don't believe by the end of this road that he will be carrying a gun or a badge.'
