Deputy Commissioner Curtis Zablocki, seen here on April 19, 2018, said in Alberta on Monday that while racism exists in 'pockets' in police services, Canadian forces are not comparable to their U.S. counterparts when it comes to mistreating people.Michael Bell/The Canadian Press
Two RCMP officers in Alberta and three in British Columbia face charges over use of force in two incidents, including one northwest of Edmonton where a suspect was shot several times and died.
The criminal charges in Alberta are the first the province’s police watchdog has pursued against officers in a fatal shooting. They come as police forces in Canada and across the continent are under scrutiny over use of force and targeting minorities, particularly Indigenous and Black people. On Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he favoured more officers wearing body cameras after a string of high-profile allegations of police brutality surfaced last week.
Deputy Commissioner Curtis Zablocki said in Alberta on Monday that while racism exists in “pockets” in police services, Canadian forces are not comparable to their U.S. counterparts when it comes to mistreating people.
“I don’t believe that racism is systemic through Canadian policing," he said. “I don’t believe it is systemic through policing in Alberta.”
Racism, he said, is not tolerated and the RCMP is working to eliminate it.
Two RCMP members in Whitecourt, about 170 kilometres northwest of Edmonton, have been charged with criminal negligence causing death in a fatal shooting in 2018. Clayton Crawford, 31, died on July 3, 2018, after one officer fired a service pistol at his vehicle and the other officer discharged a carbine rifle, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) said in a statement.
Mr. Crawford suffered gunshot wounds, but ASIRT did not say which officer fired which weapon. Further, ASIRT did not reveal whether bullets from both firearms hit Mr. Crawford. It declined to say whether the victim was Indigenous or a person of colour. Fraser Logan, a spokesman for the RCMP in Alberta, said the force does not collect such data.
Corporal Randy Stenger and Constable Jessica Brown were charged last Friday with one count of criminal negligence causing death. They have been suspended with pay. Cpl. Stenger, who did not return a message seeking comment, has 12 years of experience. Const. Brown has four years experience; she could not be reached for comment.
Susan Hughson, executive director of ASIRT, noted the agency rarely concludes officers cross the line. The watchdog has never charged officers in a fatal shooting, she said.
“This is a new step for ASIRT – not one we shirk from, but it is setting new ground,” Ms. Hughson said.
In British Columbia, one officer has been charged with assault with a weapon and obstruction of justice, and two have been charged with assault causing bodily harm after a 2016 incident in Prince George in which two people were arrested in a stolen vehicle, the BC Prosecution Service said on Monday. RCMP said the arrest was captured on video, resulting in an immediate internal review. The Mounties then requested the help of B.C.’s Independent Investigations Office (IIO).
Constable Joshua Grafton has been charged with assault with a weapon and obstruction of justice. Constable Wayne Connell and Constable Kyle Sharpe have been charged with assault causing bodily harm. All three are on “active duty,” the E Division of the RCMP said in a statement.
Lawyer Jason LeBlond, who acted for Cuyler Richard Aubichon, one of the men in the pickup, said he recalled that his client had First Nations background.
In an interview on Monday, Mr. LeBlond declined comment on charges being laid in the case, but said the video of the arrest was striking, and that he sent it to the IIO for review.
“Based on what I had seen in the video combined with my client’s description of what was happening, I was certainly concerned about what I had seen, and concerned to the point that I felt it was appropriate to work together with the Independent Investigations Office,” he said.
RCMP Staff-Sergeant Janelle Shoihet, a spokesperson for E Division, said the allegations go back over four years, all internal processes have been completed, and the officers’ fitness for active duty has been assessed.
“We are confident they can continue their duties in a manner that is safe and meets public expectation,” she said in a statement.
She said she could not provide details on their positions, but confirmed “they all remain operational.”
Police across the country are also facing new incidents. ASIRT said on Saturday it will review allegations from Allan Adam, the chief of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, that RCMP in Fort McMurray beat him and accosted his wife in March. On Thursday, Chantel Moore, originally from the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation near Tofino, was shot five times in New Brunswick by an officer performing a “wellness check,” according to her family. Last Tuesday, RCMP in Nunavut announced an investigation after video surfaced of a RCMP officer hitting an Inuk man with a truck door.
Also last week, the IIO recommended charges against five Prince George Mounties in the 2017 death of an Indigenous man after he was arrested. The IIO said that when police attempted to arrest 35-year-old Dale Culver, he tried to flee by bicycle. A struggle ensued, pepper spray was used and Mr. Culver died. Charges have not been laid.
With a report from The Canadian Press
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