The jury at the coroner鈥檚 inquest into the police shooting death of Alvin Wright have made seven recommendations for how the RCMP can prevent similar deaths from happening.
It took the jury of five very little time to render their verdict after four days of often emotionally charged testimony from all the 91原创 RCMP officers involved, as well as witness accounts from Wright鈥檚 widow, brother, various emergency responders, doctors and 91原创鈥檚 Officer in Charge.
Some of the highlights of the verdict include recommending police involved in a shooting have to make a recorded or written statement within 24 hours of the incident and then again in 72 hours. Currently, there is no requirement of police who have shot and killed someone while on duty. They only have to give a brief verbal account as was the case after 91原创 RCMP Sgt. Don Davidson shot and killed Alvin Wright in August 2010. He didn鈥檛 have to make a statement about his version of events that night until more thanthree months later.
The jury also wanted to see police announce themselves when entering a home, or a room, something two of three officers who entered Wright鈥檚 bedroom that night couldn鈥檛 recall doing. They also felt there needs to be some sort of co-ordination, leadership and formulation of a plan when multiple officers attend a 911 call.
They also recommend that officers be taken off duty for aminimum of 12 hours and assessed by a psychologist to see if they are fit for duty. Currently, their superior can order them back to duty. It also asked that police review their training on compassion and empathy techniques. This comes after it was learned that 91原创 RCMP held Wright鈥檚 girlfriend for hours, refusing to let her see her parents and still holding her there even after she was told that the father of her baby died after being shot. Police also arrested Wright鈥檚 brother from the scene, holding him in cells until the police chief ordered he be released to his father. After he learned his brother was dead, police demanded he make a statement to police.
On the stand on Thursday, 91原创 RCMP Supt. Derek Cooke said he will look at the recommendations made by the coroner鈥檚 inquest.
OFFICER DID WHAT HE WAS TRAINED TO DO WHEN HE SHOT ALVIN WRIGHT AUGUST 2010
Besides giving a brief verbal account to two of his superiors, 91原创 RCMP Sgt. Don Davidson was not required by anyone to offer a detailed statement, either written or recorded, of what took place the evening he shot and killed Alvin Wright until three months after the fact.
At a coroner鈥檚 inquest into the police shooting, it was learned that Davidson鈥檚 information about what took place that fateful August night in 2010 was not asked of him until more than 90 days later, when he prepared a written statement with his lawyer.
That statement was requested by the Vancouver Police Department which was placed in charge of investigating the 91原创 police shooting. The VPD never met with Davidson to interview him, but did clear him of any wrongdoing. The investigation took nearly a year to complete and it is now known that the initial VPD investigator went on leave and the file was picked up by another investigator. Davidson, and the other two officers, were reinstated to full duty by 91原创 RCMP Supt. Derek Cooke after the shooting.
In a press release put out last November, Cooke said it was because of the information he had available to him shortly after the shooting that he did not remove any of the involved officers from active duty after the event.
The superintendent said he was pleased with the outcome of the VPD investigation and that its findings were "consistent with the evidence of what took place that night."
Cooke will take the stand Thursday afternoon to explain why he reinstated Davidson and what information he used to make that decision. Alvin Wright鈥檚 father will testify after Cooke.
Just last week, the Office of the Police Complaints Commission rendered its verdict, and also cleared Davidson of any criminal wrong doing, saying his actions were necessary when Wright advanced toward him with a knife. The OPCC did say that it is willing to re-examine the case if new findings come out of the recommendations from this coroner鈥檚 inquest.
There is also a civil case pending, as the widow of Wright is suing the RCMP.
VPD Sgt. Brad Fawcett testified about an officer鈥檚 ability to recall details under varying degrees of stress.
Best recall of events is 72 hours after a traumatic incident, he explained. A person鈥檚 recollection of events immediately afterward is usually full of errors as the memories come back in patches and the brain tries to piece information back together in a linear way.
Davidson had an outburst on the stand, saying he shares the public's frustration about how police shootings are handled, complaining that there aren鈥檛 enough officers dedicated to ensuring incident reports are done. He also believes that officers involved in a shooting should be off the road for 90 days. He was put back to work in less than two weeks.
鈥淒oes that sound fair,鈥� said an emotional Davidson about staying off work for 90 days. 鈥淚 feel strongly about this.鈥�
Responding to a 911 call, Davidson was among four officers who arrived at the 91原创 City townhome where a then 21-year-old and intoxicated Heather Hannon had been thrown out by Alvin. She wanted police to kick him out while she collected her belongings so that she could move to her mom鈥檚, Davidson testified.
The four police officers' testimony about why she called 911 differed from Hannon鈥檚 testimony. She claimed she only wanted them to help get some items, such as her purse and a diaper bag, out of the house. She also claimed not to remember why she and Wright fought, but said it wasn鈥檛 a big deal, nor was it physical. All the officers testified that she told them she had been physically pushed out of the residence.
There has also been no answer as to why the front door looked kicked in. All four officers testified the door was wide open when they walked in. Davidson, along with another officer, Const. Patti Ramsay, went upstairs to the master bedroom to talk with Wright, who they understood to be passed out.
Davidson told the jury that Ramsay, announced herself as a police officer at the bedroom door, threatening to 鈥渒ick it open鈥� after she was unable to open it on her first try.
This version of events is different than testimony given by Ramsay, who said she didn鈥檛 announce herself as police and couldn鈥檛 recall if Davidson did either. Davidson testified Wednesday that he turned on the lights to the small bedroom, announced himself as a police officer and saw someone鈥檚 head in the closet and something metallic, like a knife.
Wanting to give himself distance from the man inside the closet he pushed at, and then kicked, the bi-fold door. It fell off its hinges, revealing Wright, who was crouched holding a hatchet in one hand and a hunting knife in the other, Davidson testified.
With no room to move, Davidson pleaded with Wright to put the weapons down, while drawing his own gun. While the hatchet was dropped on the ground, the knife stayed in Wright鈥檚 hand, in a low position. When Wright advanced towards Davidson, the senior officer fired one shot to his midsection.
Wright鈥檚 dying words were, 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 going to stab you, dude,鈥� said Davidson.
It was the first time Davidson had ever fired his gun, he said.
He told the inquest that he plays that night over and over in his head, along with a few other stressful incidents, one where he said he had a shotgun in his face and a couple being held hostage.
He testified that in the case of Wright, he had no choice but to shoot.
鈥淎ll of my training is screaming at me, 鈥榊ou better be ready for this. We are in a lethal force situation at that point.鈥�
Replying to a question from a juror, Davidson explained that even if he'd had a taser it wouldn鈥檛 have been useful in that situation, given that it requires seven feet of distance to be deployed. The jury also learned that shooting Wright in the midsection is exactly what the police officer was trained to do.
Fawcett, a senior officer who instructs other officers about use of force and studies aspects around recall of stressful police incidents, told the jury that police are taught to shoot at the largest target, so they don鈥檛 miss. They should not to try to shoot a hand, or shoulder because the aim required is too much to ask of someone with that much adrenalin.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not like what you see on TV,鈥� Fawcett explained. 鈥淭he consequence of aiming at a hand or leg is too small a target and can result in missing and hitting someone else by accident. We shoot to stop the threat, not shoot to kill.鈥�
