An axe is know to have soothing effects on the troubled mind.

Watchdog lifts lid on investigation reports raising red flags about RCMP actions


The RCMP's watchdog has flagged a number of ways in which the RCMP has bungled past investigations on cases ranging from mental health calls to fatal car accidents.

The Civilian Review and Complaints Commission recently posted online summaries of its probes into allegations of Mountie misconduct — part of the CRCC's commitment to greater transparency.

In the past, the independent body has released only the findings of its chairperson-initiated reviews (which often deal with high-profile cases that have generated media coverage) and a smattering of "sample" cases, concealing the details of hundreds of reviews from the public for privacy reasons.

That's changing under the CRCC's new chairperson Michelaine Lahaie, said CRCC spokesperson Kate McDerby.

In a bid to become more transparent — and against a backdrop of growing concerns about police accountability and use of force — the agency says it is in the process of posting all of its findings, with personal and identifying information removed.

So far, details of 23 reviews that were completed in 2019-2020 have been released, with more on the way over the coming weeks. McDerby said the findings in all cases — whether they rule for or against RCMP officers — will be made public.

Police Across Canada Are Using Predictive Policing Algorithms, Report Finds

Police across Canada are increasingly using controversial algorithms to predict where crimes could occur, who might go missing, and to help them determine where they should patrol, despite fundamental human rights concerns, a new report has found.

To Surveil and Predict: A Human Rights Analysis of Algorithmic Policing in Canada is the result of a joint investigation by the University of Toronto’s International Human Rights Program (IHRP) and Citizen Lab. It details how, in the words of the report’s authors, “law enforcement agencies across Canada have started to use, procure, develop, or test a variety of algorithmic policing methods,” with potentially dire consequences for civil liberties, privacy and other Charter rights, the authors warn.

The report breaks down how police are using or considering the use of algorithms for several purposes including predictive policing, which uses historical police data to predict where crime will occur in the future. Right now in Canada, police are using algorithms to analyze data about individuals to predict who might go missing, with the goal of one day using the technology in other areas of the criminal justice system. Some police services are using algorithms to automate the mass collection and analysis of public data, including social media posts, and to apply facial recognition to existing mugshot databases for investigative purposes.

“Algorithmic policing technologies are present or under consideration throughout Canada in the forms of both predictive policing and algorithmic surveillance tools.” the report reads.

Police in Vancouver, for example, use a machine-learning tool called GeoDASH to predict where break-and-enter crimes might occur. Calgary Police Service (CPS) uses Palantir’s Gotham software to identify and visualize links between people who interact with the police—including victims and witnesses—and places, police reports, and the properties and vehicles they own. (A draft Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) conducted by CPS in 2014 and mentioned in the report noted that Gotham could “present false associations between innocent individuals and criminal organizations and suspects” and recommended measures to mitigate the risk of this happening, but not all the recommendations have been implemented.)

The Toronto Police Service does not currently use algorithms in policing, but police there have been collaborating with a data analytics firm since 2016 in an effort to “develop algorithmic models that identify high crime areas,” the report notes.

Toronto police officer ordered to remove ‘Punisher’ patch from uniform



Toronto police say an officer faces internal discipline after he was seen wearing a patch on his uniform with the message: “Make no mistake, I am the sheepdog” and a black skull in the middle of the emblem.

The skull appears to resemble the logo of the Punisher, a vigilante crime fighting character from Marvel Comics that has been adopted as a pro-police symbol in recent years.

The officer was seen at a news conference outside Keelesdale Public School on Tuesday morning intended to draw attention to road safety issues as students go back to school.

“The officer wearing the patch has been identified and he has been directed to remove it immediately,” Toronto police spokesperson Meaghan Gray told the Star in an email.

“It is not approved, nor appropriate, for him to be wearing it on his uniform. This is now a matter of internal discipline, and as a result I am unable to offer anything further.”

In the statement, Gray didn’t identify the officer, citing the Police Services Act. Gray added that police were “aware of the ongoing discussion on social media related to this issue.”

After the Star’s Ben Spurr tweeted a photo of the patch, “the Punisher” started to trend on Twitter.

The “Make no mistake I am the sheepdog” design is available in different forms and interpretations, and is available on different types of clothing and materials. The Thin Blue Line Shop website, which sells items in support of police, described the message using the Punisher skull as one in which “law enforcement officers stand between the community and chaos.”

The full message listed on a decal on the website reads as, “I may walk among the sheep but make no mistake I am the sheepdog.” That decal shows a skull and two firearms on the side with Thin Blue Line colouring.

One of The Punisher skull co-creators, Gerry Conway, launched a fundraiser in support of Black Lives Matter (BLM) in June for young comic artists in an effort “to reclaim the Punisher skull as a symbol of justice rather than lawless police oppression.”

Police Act 'loophole' allows another officer to resign in face of disciplinary hearing



Another Calgary police officer, who was recently convicted of aggravated assault and had been facing two disciplinary hearings, has quit the service, dodging further allegations of misconduct.

Const. Trevor Lindsay's internal disciplinary hearing was to begin this fall in connection with the 2013 beating of Godfred Addai, which was caught on police helicopter video.

Addai had been dropped off far from his home in the dead of winter by one officer, who issued a ticket for public intoxication, and then beaten by Lindsay after calling 911 for help.

Last year, Lindsay was convicted of aggravated assault for fracturing a man's head during a 2015 arrest in an unrelated incident. A disciplinary hearing had not yet been scheduled because Lindsay's criminal court case has not concluded.

He resigned on Friday.

Alberta is one of the few, if not the only, jurisdictions in the country where police officers can resign in the face of discipline and maintain a clean record if they haven't been charged and convicted criminally.

Glacial pace of Edmonton police disciplinary hearing provides 'no closure,' union says



Five-and-a-half years after an arrest sparked allegations of police brutality and racism, the disciplinary hearing for an Edmonton constable resumed briefly this week.

On Wednesday, two police officers shared their recollection of events on the night of March 25, 2015, but frequently said there were details they could no longer recall.

In a disciplinary hearing that has stretched on for nearly 17 months, Const. Nathan Downing faces allegations of repeatedly punching Nasser El Hallak and calling him a n----- and f------ Muslim.

Wednesday's testimony also highlighted concerns repeatedly raised by justice experts about the glacial pace of the adjudication process.

"Delays in commencing a hearing is detrimental to people's memories, it provides no closure for the members and citizens," said Sgt Michael Elliott, president of the Edmonton Police Association, who attended the hearing.

"If we can move criminal investigations into provincial and federal courts for the 18-month timelines as per Jordan, we certainly can do the same for police act investigations, LERB decisions etc."

A 2016 decision by the Supreme Court of Canada set limits on the length of time for the anticipated end of a trial after charges are laid to 18 months in provincial court and 30 months in superior court. Meanwhile, Elliott said some police disciplinary prosecutions take up to nine years to complete.

"That's a third of a person's career," Elliott said.

Charges upgraded to manslaughter for Alberta Mounties in shooting death of man in car



Two RCMP officers who were charged in the shooting death of a 31-year-old man in northern Alberta two years ago are now facing manslaughter charges.

Cpl. Randy Stenger and Const. Jessica Brown of the Whitecourt RCMP detachment were arrested on June 5 and each charged with one count of criminal negligence causing death.

The court registry now says the officers are charged with manslaughter.

Clayton Crawford died from multiple gunshot wounds inside a car after a confrontation with police on July 3, 2018.

Alberta's policing watchdog, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT), was directed to investigate the shooting on the day it happened.

In a news release Thursday, ASIRT said that shortly after the officers were charged, the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service transferred responsibility for the prosecution to the Ontario Ministry of Attorney General.

"After consultation with the Ontario Crown, on Sept. 3, 2020, a replacement information was sworn jointly charging both officers with the offence of manslaughter," ASIRT said in the release.

"The original information charging both officers with criminal negligence causing death was withdrawn at the request of the Crown."

ASIRT said it would not comment further as the matters remain before the courts.

. . .

ASIRT said the officers were looking for a witness or possible victim in that case when they discovered a man sleeping in the driver's seat of a vehicle parked at a rest stop near Whitecourt.

During a confrontation, the vehicle was "put into motion" and one officer fired a service pistol while the other discharged a carbine rifle, the agency said.

"The vehicle left the rest stop, crossed the highway and entered a ditch a short distance away," said a news release at the time.

The RCMP Emergency Response Team was called in to clear the scene and found Crawford dead in the driver's seat.

Police shootings in 2020: The effect on officers and those they are sworn to protect


2020 was deadliest year for police shootings in last 4 in Canada, co-author of study says

A photo and an urn sit on Christie Zebrasky's kitchen table.

Each time the Winnipeg woman goes to eat, she imagines her daughter's face and wonders whether she'll ever know what happened in the moments before 16-year-old Eishia Hudson was shot and killed by police.

"I can feel her presence here daily. She is not leaving Mom," Zebrasky says with a deep sigh.

Hudson is one of 55 people who were shot by police in Canada between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30. Of those, 34 were killed.

The Canadian Press tracked each shooting using information from police, independent investigative units and independent reporting. It is a snapshot of police shootings in a year in which global movements have called for more accountability and transparency.

The vast majority of people shot by police were young men. When race could be identified, 48 per cent of people shot were Indigenous and 19 per cent were Black.

Relatives who spoke publicly about those who were shot said there were issues with mental health and addictions. Of the nine shootings that started as wellness checks, all were fatal and four were people of colour.

In five of those cases, police first used a non-lethal-weapon such as a Taser. Six of the shootings took place in the person's home.

Wellness checks generally involve officers being dispatched to check on someone whose mental health or well-being is a concern. Critics have called for police to change how officers respond to these calls following multiple high-profile deaths in 2020.

. . .

Implicit bias

Lorne Foster, a professor of public policy and equity studies at York University, says it's time to ask who is best equipped to respond in these situations. Police are acting as lead responders in cases where they shouldn't be, he says, and their presence can make things more confrontational.

Foster says racialized and low-income communities are more likely to see use of force by police. Even with gaps in racial data, he says, there are patterns consistent with research.

Implicit bias exists in every institution, he adds. However, when those biases are involved in policing, some officers who see a Black or Indigenous person immediately see a problem.

"These kinds of perceptions lead to more surveillance."

It's a cycle. Police are more likely to stop and question racialized people, who get frustrated with over-policing, so interactions with officers become increasingly hostile, says Foster.

But he feels the issue is finally being recognized and he's hopeful there can be change.

"I see this as the worst of times and the best of times," Foster says. "We can get some positive transformation out of a lot of tragedies that have been happening."

Penitentiary staff arrested in killing of Indigenous inmate in St. John's



Police have arrested an undisclosed number of correctional officers in connection to the death of Jonathan Henoche, an Indigenous man who was housed at Her Majesty's Penitentiary in St. John's while awaiting trial on murder charges.

The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary issued a statement on Monday afternoon confirming several arrests, but would not say who exactly was charged, how many correctional officers were included or what charges they are facing.

Const. James Cadigan said that information is not being made public right now because the charges have not been sworn at provincial court. A person's name does not appear on a court docket until the charge has been made official at the courthouse.

Each person was arrested and released on conditions to appear in court at a later date.

Police takedown of woman in stormtrooper costume won't result in criminal charges



An outside force says no criminal charges are warranted in relation to the handcuffing of a woman in a stormtrooper costume outside a Star Wars-themed business in Lethbridge, Alta., last May.

But Lethbridge police are still facing criticism for how the initial incident was handled — and some are calling for the full results of the outside investigation to be released.

On May 4 — referred to as Star Wars Day by franchise fans — Lethbridge police officers responded to two 911 calls reporting a person in a Star Wars stormtrooper costume was carrying a firearm on 13th Street North in the southern Alberta city.

Inside the costume was a 19-year-old employee of a space-themed restaurant nearby, dubbed the Coco Vanilla Galactic Cantina.

. . .

On Wednesday, Lethbridge police said in a release the investigation, which included a review by ASIRT and the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service, had concluded and recommended no criminal charges against the officers.

No additional information about the investigation was provided, and inquiries from CBC News requesting more information were not immediately returned.

Lethbridge police said a professional misconduct investigation will now proceed under the Police Act and Police Service Regulation.

'A lack of transparency'

Tom Engel, a veteran Edmonton defence lawyer, said the statement from the Lethbridge police service lacks context as to why the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service didn't move forward with criminal prosecution.

"Was there an assault by the officers? Of course there was. They applied force to her, without her consent," Engel said. "That's the definition of an assault. But for it to be criminal assault, it has to be something that was not justified — but the burden is on the police to prove that it was necessary and reasonable."

In Engel's view, there's no way the police could reasonably argue that the level of force used was necessary and reasonable based on the facts that are known.

"You've got the handcuffing — why was it necessary to apply that force, those handcuffs? It's absurd," he said. "They already know, by the time she's even on the ground, they know this is a toy. That makes it unnecessary to apply any force, once they know there's no offence that's been committed."

Black girl handcuffed by police in Ontario at age 6 awarded $35K in damages by rights tribunal




The Ontario Human Rights Tribunal has awarded $35,000 in damages to a young Black child handcuffed by police at an elementary school in Ontario's Peel region when she was six years old.

The decision comes approximately one year after the tribunal ruled that Peel police used "racially discriminatory" force against the girl and that the actions of the two Peel police officers constituted a "very serious" breach of her human rights.

"I am happy this rather lengthy and difficult chapter is finally over," the child's mother and litigation guardian was quoted as saying in a news release from the Human Rights Legal Support Centre Thursday.

"I can now focus on what lies ahead, which is making my daughter whole. This decision gives my community hope where we often feel there's no recourse."

CBC News first reported on the case three years ago and did not identify the family or school where the 2016 incident took place to protect the child's identity.

Police said they acted for 'safety' of students and child

On Sept. 30, 2016, Peel police received a 911 call from the girl's school. Two officers handcuffed her wrists and ankles, placing her on her stomach with her hands behind her back, and according to the legal support centre's news release, they held the girl in that position for approximately 28 minutes.

The release noted that it was the fourth time the school had called the police about the child that month alone.