Jackson Inquest recommendations tell the tale
Tuesday, September 20, 2011 by David Eby
There's nothing quite like a list of Coroner's recommendations that start with the controversial idea that police with M16s should also have first aid kits to really give you a flavour of the Jackson Inquest's alarming testimony.
Here's the link to the jury's recommendations (PDF), where the jury politely describes Mr. Jackson's bullet wound to the back, that exited his front, as a "wound to the chest."
Let's start with the recommendation that Emergency Response Team members should be trained in "E.R.T. Tactics." What follows is the recommendation that the RCMP consider using negotiators before sending the boys in with the camo and the big guns. Surely, surely, these already exist as RCMP policy somewhere. And wouldn't it be common sense that the RCMP should have communication systems in northern B.C. that "work effectively in remote areas"?
The recommendation that the RCMP respect the "safety protocol" agreements they sign with First Nations (and the implication that the RCMP did not respect the protocol in this instance), above all, will surely cause the most concern among the Gitanmaax Band and the Gitxsan First Nation given the historical reverberations of the Crown not respecting agreements with First Nations.
But this jury was just getting going.
The jury goes on to demand the province get going on implementing the civilian Independent Investigation Office, and further demand that RCMP investigations be reviewed by an independent civilian body until the IIO is in place.
These recommendations are surely informed by the jury's finding that the shooting member was never interviewed by the RCMP. They address this issue in the recommendation that the RCMP demand an interview with their members who kill people as a job requirement to ensure public safety. No interview, no employment. The jury also considered the issue of protecting the right to be free from self-incrimination for the officer; the interview can't be used against the member in court. Seems reasonable.
And at the end, to show that this jury was as capable of understanding the perspective of the officers involved as they were able to understand what the officers did wrong, a suggestion that the RCMP turn its mind to the impact that emergency response work or police work in general can have on its members - mental health services must be available for police. Of course.
Reading these recommendations as findings by the jury of what didn't happen in the Jackson case results in the following conclusions by the jury: an untrained ERT team armed with M16s, with communications that didn't work and no first aid kit or ambulance, ignored protocols with First Nations and dispensed with negotiators in their efforts to arrest Rodney Jackson.
In investigating what happened, the RCMP didn't interview the shooting officer, and overall did such a bad investigation that the province should speed up their implementation of the civilian body that will do these investigations. The officers involved in this traumatic disaster then had no access to mental health services following the event.
Now that's quite a finding, jury members.
Here's the link to the jury's recommendations (PDF), where the jury politely describes Mr. Jackson's bullet wound to the back, that exited his front, as a "wound to the chest."
Let's start with the recommendation that Emergency Response Team members should be trained in "E.R.T. Tactics." What follows is the recommendation that the RCMP consider using negotiators before sending the boys in with the camo and the big guns. Surely, surely, these already exist as RCMP policy somewhere. And wouldn't it be common sense that the RCMP should have communication systems in northern B.C. that "work effectively in remote areas"?
The recommendation that the RCMP respect the "safety protocol" agreements they sign with First Nations (and the implication that the RCMP did not respect the protocol in this instance), above all, will surely cause the most concern among the Gitanmaax Band and the Gitxsan First Nation given the historical reverberations of the Crown not respecting agreements with First Nations.
But this jury was just getting going.
The jury goes on to demand the province get going on implementing the civilian Independent Investigation Office, and further demand that RCMP investigations be reviewed by an independent civilian body until the IIO is in place.
These recommendations are surely informed by the jury's finding that the shooting member was never interviewed by the RCMP. They address this issue in the recommendation that the RCMP demand an interview with their members who kill people as a job requirement to ensure public safety. No interview, no employment. The jury also considered the issue of protecting the right to be free from self-incrimination for the officer; the interview can't be used against the member in court. Seems reasonable.
And at the end, to show that this jury was as capable of understanding the perspective of the officers involved as they were able to understand what the officers did wrong, a suggestion that the RCMP turn its mind to the impact that emergency response work or police work in general can have on its members - mental health services must be available for police. Of course.
Reading these recommendations as findings by the jury of what didn't happen in the Jackson case results in the following conclusions by the jury: an untrained ERT team armed with M16s, with communications that didn't work and no first aid kit or ambulance, ignored protocols with First Nations and dispensed with negotiators in their efforts to arrest Rodney Jackson.
In investigating what happened, the RCMP didn't interview the shooting officer, and overall did such a bad investigation that the province should speed up their implementation of the civilian body that will do these investigations. The officers involved in this traumatic disaster then had no access to mental health services following the event.
Now that's quite a finding, jury members.
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