Civil liberties groups reiterate importance of first-responder role of police
Posted July 19, 2015 4:28 pm.
Last Updated July 20, 2015 6:51 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Civil liberties groups in British Columbia are asking questions in the wake of a second police shooting in three days.
BC’s police watchdog is investigating the shooting of a distressed man outside the RCMP headquarters in Surrey yesterday morning. The Independent Investigations Office says a struggle ensued and the man was killed and an officer suffered a minor wound.
On Thursday in Dawson Creek, a police say a man wearing a mask refused to obey instructions and was fatally shot.
BC Civil Liberties Association executive director Josh Paterson says police shootings continue to happen even though officers have received more mental health and de-escalation training.
Pivot Legal Society lawyer Doug King says BC’s police community must undergo the same kind of self-reflection that Toronto experienced after 19-year-old Sammy Yatim was shot dead by police.
Yatim was holding a knife, but had been isolated on a streetcar when he was shot repeatedly.
The first responder is probably the most important, says King, and some officers can be trained and specialized units can be put in place, but if the first person who makes contact with someone in a crisis situation isn’t capable, any help that comes after could be meaningless.
“We need to see a very specific effort on the part of police departments to make sure that first-responders are able to deal with the escalation techniques and tactics and that they have the support that they need so that they can hold somebody until the adequate personnel arrives.”
He says it was become apparent recently, the pattern that we’re seeing is officers quickly moving to use force.
“We don’t really have any good data or research to suggest whether the training methods are being effective in fulfilling their purpose. We know that officers are being increasingly taught crisis intervention techniques, but we don’t see a lot of evaluations on whether or not it’s doing the job that it’s stated purpose is.”
He adds that Tasers can be a more effective tool to disarm someone.
