Vancouver transit policeLyle Stafford/The Globe and Mail
British Columbia's police oversight agency has cleared an officer involved in the fatal shooting of a young man at a Surrey grocery store, ruling the use of force was reasonable.
But the Independent Investigations Office (IIO) also questioned why the officers who first responded to the call weren't carrying additional non-lethal options – namely tasers.
Naverone Woods was 23 when he died in December, 2014. A report released Monday by the IIO said it will not be referring the file to the Crown.
The report said Mr. Woods was holding two knives when he was shot inside a Safeway. He had already stabbed himself and the report said civilian witnesses – as well as the two officers who first responded to the call – told the agency Mr. Woods had been moving toward police.
"The subject officer arrived at the Safeway and was within seconds confronted by a shirtless male with multiple wounds who was brandishing two knives which he would not drop upon being directed to do so," the report said. It said the officer who fired her weapon told the agency Mr. Woods "advanced quickly" on her partner.
"The subject officer's account is consistent with objective eyewitness evidence and sets out her subjective belief respecting both the necessity and reasonableness of her response of initially firing the service pistol at the affected person," the report said.
"The use of force would appear to be reasonable given the totality of the circumstances."
The two officers who first responded are members of the Transit Police Service and only one opened fire.
The initial complaint was of a male causing a disturbance at the Surrey Central SkyTrain station. The report said Mr. Woods entered the Safeway about 15 minutes later.
Anne Drennan, a Transit Police spokesperson, said the service is "pleased the IIO has exonerated our officers for their actions during what was truly a tragic incident for the family of the deceased, and for the officers involved."
Douglas King, a lawyer with the Pivot Legal Society, which focuses on police accountability, said he was not surprised by the outcome of the investigation.
"It seems to be one of those cases that we've seen in the past and will probably continue to see unless we change things. Someone presents with a knife, advances on police, and in the current state of the law it's not surprising that they found there's no criminal conduct here," Mr. King said in an interview.
He said the "ultimate question" of how such deaths can be avoided remains.
"What resources are necessary? Do we need a change in tactics, or the way we view these? Because we seem to keep getting ourselves in these circumstances," he said.
The Independent Investigations Office said one inquiry that still needs to be made is "why neither of the involved officers were equipped with a less lethal force option which may have reduced the risk of the need to use deadly force in this instance." The report then specifically mentioned conducted energy weapons.
Ms. Drennan said 16 Transit Police officers currently carry tasers. She said the service's goal is to have 50 per cent of its operational members trained and carrying tasers on patrol by the end of 2018. The service currently has just fewer than 150 officers, with about 100 of them on the front line, she said.
"I think it's very important to remember that there is nothing to suggest that had our members had a taser during this incident, the outcome would have been any different," Ms. Drennan said.
Mr. King said tasers are not the grand solution. He said far too many people are in crisis in the first place.
He said tasers were overused by B.C. police officers when they were first introduced. However, he said use of the device has since fallen drastically.
"Now we've gone too far in the other direction, where you're not having first responders to these crisis situations [carrying] arguably a tool that could make a huge difference in determining whether somebody lives or dies," he said. "I think it's certainly worth looking at why that's occurred."
Mr. Woods's family could not be reached for comment Monday. After his death, he was described as a gentle, caring young man. He had lived in Hazelton, B.C., before making his way to the Lower Mainland.