3322 replies to this topic

[pontcanna]

Who’s a good boy? Saanich Police recruit stress dog named Beacon

Jan. 24, 2023 


Stress dog Beacon is the newest member of the Saanich Police department.

It’s two paws forward for Saanich Police.

The police detachment is welcoming its newest member, an Operational Stress Intervention dog that’s not only trained to sense anxiety in staff but, wagging tail and all, comfort victims of crime during in-person interviews.

The two-year-old black lab named Beacon was donated to Saanich Police by Wounded Warriors Canada in partnership with Vancouver Island Compassion Dogs (VICD), a division of BC Guide Dogs, police said Tuesday.

More: https://www.cheknews...beacon-1137442/

 

 

 

[Victoria Watcher]

Victoria’s own ‘Car 87:’ New team of police and psychiatric nurse to answer mental health calls

 

More details about the program, first launched in Vancouver, will be announced next week

 

https://www.capitald...al-health-calls

[Victoria Watcher]

VPD officer urged hospital to admit Const. Nicole Chan the night before she died

 

 

 

Chan, 30, spent about two hours at the VGH access and assessment centre before she was discharged at 11:35 p.m. on Jan. 26, 2019, and taken home by a VPD member. She was found dead the next morning. 

_________________________

 

On Wednesday, Jamie Gifford, Chan's boyfriend and roommate told coroner's court that Chan had grown increasingly depressed in the weeks before her death.

 

"She was very upset there was nothing getting solved over her case, and she felt very hopeless that she had lost her career," said Gifford. "She was very upset that all the people that put her in this position to lose her job were still able to work and could go on with their life like nothing happened."

 

Gifford said his relationship with Chan had become strained, and when he told her on Jan 26, 2019, he was going to spend some time at a friend's house, she became distraught and appeared to threaten suicide. 

_________________________

 

Gifford said he left their apartment at his friends' urging, taking potentially dangerous items with him. As he was leaving, he met Chan returning, and she assured him she was OK, he said.

 

Gifford found Chan's body when he returned to the apartment the next morning. A suicide note was presented in coroner's court as evidence. 

 

 

https://www.cbc.ca/n...quest-1.6727111

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 27 January 2023 - 03:44 AM.

[Barrrister]

This is just sad.

[pontcanna]

VicPD to review circumstances that led to family learning of son’s death online

Jan. 28, 2023 

 

Scott Grier's family learned of his death when they did a Google search for him on his birthday.

Victoria Police say it is conducting a review to determine if there are additional steps it could have taken to prevent a family learning of their son’s death eight months after the fact, and in a Google search.

Scott Grier would have been 36 last week, but he died eight months ago while living on the streets in Victoria.

On his birthday, Scott’s parents searched the web for their son and instead found his obituary.

The family reached out to police, who told her to reach out to the BC Coroners Service. The coroner confirmed Scott died of a fentanyl overdose on May 16, 2022.

When trying to find answers for why the family wasn’t notified, no departments would take responsibility. The Ministry of Social Development saying it is the BC Coroner’s responsibility to notify next-of-kin and the coroner saying it is Victoria Police’s responsibility.

In a response on Friday, VicPD says it has started a review of the file to see if something could have been done to prevent this outcome.

More:https://www.cheknews...online-1138572/

[Victoria Watcher]

Grumpy Taxpayers:

But municipalities paid anywhere from 4.6 per cent of their operating expenses in Metchosin, to a high of 25.6 per cent in Victoria/Esquimalt on policing.

Costs are trending upwards: Since 2016, Victoria’s share of their budget going to policing has risen from 22.8 to 25.8 per cent, and Esquimalt’s rose from 22.9 to 25 per cent.

[Victoria Watcher]

I think Esquimalt is getting a bad deal.

[Victoria Watcher]

In 2019 Saanich police was less than 15% of their municipal budget.

https://www.victoria...safest-solution

[Nparker]

It must be all of those new nightclubs that have opened downtown since 2016 that are driving up policing costs.

[Mike K.]

Or maybe, revellers are still gathering at former nightclub locations and just skipping straight to the fighting and social disarray, 2005-style?

[pontcanna]

Island Health and VicPD Launch Co-Response Team

January 30, 2023

Victoria, BC – VicPD, in partnership with Island Health, has launched the Co-Response Team (CRT) – a central response resource for calls involving presumed mental health issues. This new program pairs a registered mental health clinician with a police officer to respond together to calls for service in Victoria and Esquimalt that involve a significant mental health component.

 

The Island Health & VicPD Co-Response Team partners a mental health clinician with a VicPD officer trained in trauma-informed approaches

Operating from 8 am to 8 pm, 7 days a week, this new team expands and increases the mental health response continuum, adding to the existing interdisciplinary Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) teams, the Integrated Mobile Crisis Response Team (IMCRT) and the peer-led, non-police community-based Peer Assisted Care Teams (PACT). The CRT is modelled on the successes of similar programs, with an increased focus on enhancing the front-line patrol response needed in Victoria and Esquimalt.

“VicPD has long advocated for resources to help improve our response to mental health calls,” Chief Del Manak said. “This is an initiative that will ensure the citizens of Victoria and Esquimalt have a high level of both mental health care and safety when officers respond to mental health calls, and that our frontline officers can remain focused on responding to calls where police should lead, such as preventing and investigating crime, and maintaining public safety.”

“These collaborative efforts aim to reduce harm to people in crisis, the community and clinical mental health staff,” said Island Health Board Chair Leah Hollins. “These services provide rapid interventions, connect people with services and aim to reduce a person’s involvement with emergency health services, the criminal justice system and law enforcement.”

“When people are in crisis because of mental health or substance use challenges, they need to be met with care and compassion,” says Jennifer Whiteside, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions. “The new Co-Response Team in Victoria will support people in distress and connect them to the help they need and deserve.”

 

VicPD officers with CRT have specialized training in responding to and supporting people through client-centered, trauma-informed approaches and de-escalation. They work in an integrated team approach alongside registered clinicians who are mental health specialists. Together, they will assess and manage the situation, deciding on the most appropriate action, which may include referrals for community-based mental health follow-up or emergency intervention.

The CRT is already having a positive impact by providing service that frees up Patrol resources, either through direct response or taking over continuity of care after a person has been transported to hospital for a mental health assessment. The result is that the Patrol officers can return to the road to respond to 911 calls for service much more quickly and that the person in need has immediate access to registered clinician with mental health expertise and the support of a police officer to help ensure their safety while they await assessment.

 

[pontcanna]

Jack Knox: Plainclothes VicPD officer to partner with health worker on mental-health calls

A new unit will see a plainclothes Victoria police officer and a health professional partner in an unmarked car, responding to crises traditionally handled by uniformed cops.
 

by Jack Knox

At first blush, the question about the latest collaboration between VicPD and Island Health isn’t whether it will work, but whether it will be enough, given the volume of mental-health calls the police field.

They announced it Monday: A new unit in which a plainclothes police officer and a health professional partner in an unmarked car, responding to crises traditionally handled by uniformed cops.

The Co-Response Team was actually launched two weeks ago and has already had success, Police Chief Del Manak told a Monday news conference. He used the example of a call about a guy acting strangely, an incident the mental-health professional was able to resolve simply by helping the man refill a prescription over the phone.

“Had this been a police-only response, the person would most likely have been transported to the hospital because our officer would not have had the expertise to ask those probing questions and to come up with a solution other than to apprehend him under the Mental Health Act,” Manak said.

The Co-Response Team model is not new. Similar teams have been used for years in other places around B.C., including Nanaimo in recent times. It works well, supporters say, and fits the belief that police shouldn’t be taking the lead on calls that are primarily about mental health.

When the unit shows up, the specially trained officer’s role is largely to keep everybody safe while the mental-health worker does mental-health worker things. Together, they de-escalate things.

That’s great as far as it goes, but will it go far enough? Note that the Co-Response Team only consists of two, two-person teams, spelling each other off while providing service from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week.

Mental-health crises happen at night, too. Also, the unit covers only VicPD territory, Victoria and Esquimalt, not the rest of the community.

More: https://www.timescol...quimalt-6461193

 

[LJ]

Mental-health crises happen at night, too. Also, the unit covers only VicPD territory, Victoria and Esquimalt, not the rest of the community.

 

You go where the crazies are.

[pontcanna]

Alberta family still waiting for answers on why they weren’t notified of son’s death

Times Colonist - 4 Feb 2023

 

The family of Scott Grier is celebrating his life this weekend, painfully aware that his memorial should have been held nine months ago.

Two weeks ago, Glen Grier learned from a Google search that his 35-year-old son died from a fentanyl overdose on May 16, 2022 and had been cremated and buried at Hatley Memorial Gardens without his knowledge.

Having to learn of Scott’s death that way was devastating, Grier said from his home in Stony Plain, Alta.

He and his wife, Michelle Grier, who are raising Scott’s seven-year-old daughter, are still looking for answers about why they weren’t notified of Scott’s death.

This week, Victoria Police Chief Del Manak phoned the Griers to offer his condolences and assure them the file is being reviewed. Deputy Police Chief Jason Laidman also called to tell them he was looking into the case.

“I’m a little frustrated right now. They haven’t given me any answers yet. They say they’re looking into it,” said Grier.

Glen Grier believes the police will have some information for them early next week, after the celebration of life, set for Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Stony Plain Inn and Suites.

 

More: https://www.timescol...s-death-6485497

[spanky123]

Jack Knox: Plainclothes VicPD officer to partner with health worker on mental-health calls

A new unit will see a plainclothes Victoria police officer and a health professional partner in an unmarked car, responding to crises traditionally handled by uniformed cops.

 

What tends to happen in other markets is that the 'civilian' health care worker lasts about a month before they book off with PTSD after having being charged with a knife or attacked one too many times.

[aastra]

 

...before they book off with PTSD after having being charged with a knife or attacked one too many times.

 

In Victoria the PTSD aspect would probably be less severe, assuming they have tremendous confidence in the "replica firearms" narrative. (However, if their confidence in that narrative is shaky then the PTSD aspect could be much more severe.)

[Nparker]

#replicaptsd

[pontcanna]

West Shore RCMP debuts electric police vehicle

2023-02-07 

This week, the West Shore RCMP unveiled its first electric police vehicle, a Tesla Model Y. It has been equipped to meet policing standards and will be used by frontline officers to respond to calls for service. The West Shore RCMP requested the vehicle last year as part of a commitment to reduce the RCMP’s carbon footprint and to comply with the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act.

This is the first ever fully-electric RCMP police vehicle and we’re proud to be piloting it here in the West Shore detachment. Our geography and mild winter weather make this an ideal test environment. We’re also expecting to test two more electric vehicles in 2023, the Ford Mustang Mach-E and the Ford F-150. Adopting electric vehicles into our fleet demonstrates the RCMP’s stewardship and commitment to innovation in policing, said Todd Preston, Superintendent in Charge of the West Shore RCMP.

 

 

Using electric vehicles in policing is not a one size fits all approach because they are not suitable for most RCMP detachments. As Canada’s national police service, the RCMP works in diverse landscapes, including rural Northern communities. Testing the performance of electric vehicles in BC’s West Shore detachment will help us determine how and where electric vehicles are best suited to enhance our current fleet.

The West Shore RCMP provides 24-hour policing, so our vehicles are in constant use, said Superintendent Preston. In 2020, the average general duty West Shore police vehicle cost approximately $11,100 in fuel and maintenance fees. Since then, costs have gone up due to soaring fuel prices and inflation. We predict the cost of charging and maintaining an electric vehicle will be significantly lower than the cost of maintaining a gas-powered vehicle. Since a single gas-powered vehicle emits approximately 2.3 kilograms of CO2 per litre of gas, the positive environmental impact of replacing internal combustion engine vehicles with electric vehicles is also significant.

Released by

Cpl. Nancy Saggar
Media Relations Officer
West Shore RCMP

[pontcanna]

Victoria officers who delayed breaking down door of suicidal man did nothing wrong: IIO

Officers waited several minutes to break the door down and found the man dead in the bathroom

Victoria police have been cleared of wrongdoing in a case where officers went to the apartment of a man reported to be suicidal but couldn’t decide whether to break down the door, and eventually found him dead inside.

Police had been called at 1:24 a.m. Feb. 6, 2022, by the man’s mother, who said he had a razor blade and was threatening to kill himself. He was in an assisted-living apartment due to mental-health issues.

The man had not been co-operative with police on previous occasions.

The two officers who responded called police dispatch between 1:39 and 1:41 a.m. to say there was no response at the door.

One of the officers then called his sergeant to see if he should kick the door in, but was told all that was known was that the man’s mother thought he was in the suite and to “keep going with voice commands and we will go from there.” The sergeant said he was coming to the scene.

The decision was made at 1:55 a.m. to kick the door down. The sergeant had to go to his vehicle to retrieve a battering ram because the door was hard to breach. The man was found in the bathroom.

An ambulance was called but it had already been determined the man was dead.

The IIO found that the officers’ concerns before going inside were reasonable, and there was a risk of “immediate resort to self-harm” if they entered suddenly.

The IIO decision says the assisted-living facility’s failure to have either a lock box or a staff member on site with a pass key was a “significant factor” in the man’s death.

 

More: https://www.timescol...ong-iio-6501768

 

Full report: https://iiobc.ca/app...th-2022-018.pdf

 

 

[pontcanna]

INVESTIGATION CLOSED

No charges recommended after fatal police-involved shooting near Nanaimo mill

Feb 8, 2023 

NANAIMO — The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. has found no grounds for charges against a local Mountie after they deployed ultimately lethal force.

A report released Wednesday, Feb. 8 suggested the officer in question, referred to as SO (subject officer) in the report, was justified in their actions during a July 23, 2022 incident along Haliburton St., near Nanaimo Coastland Mill.

Calls to 911 came around 2 p.m. from a woman (CW1 – civilian witness 1) driving in a car with the victim (AP – affected person). Investigators learned AP became increasingly agitated during an argument, causing the woman to pull the car into the middle of Haliburton St. and demand the man leave.

“He refused, she said, so she tried to call 911. She said that AP grabbed her hand and punched her in the arm,” the report read. “As he took hold of the steering wheel and put his foot on the gas pedal, she was able to call 911, and reported that AP had assaulted her. She told the call taker that AP was mentally unwell and needed to be committed to hospital.”

Two other witnesses (CW2 and CW3) in separate vehicles came upon the scene a short time later.

CW2 reported seeing the woman trying to escape, hitting the window on the inside, while CW3 told investigators she saw the woman “hanging out of the driver’s window, waving her arms and shouting, ‘Help me, help me.'”

Witness testimony, combined with a still-connected 911 call from the woman, indicated the man got out of the car with a backpack and used it to swing at the officer’s vehicle.

“He’s chasing the cop car with his bag. Oh my God,” CW1 inside the car said.

The officer reversed his vehicle, telling dispatch “Hold on, he’s coming like running right at me. I’m reversing. This guy’s…mental.”

The IIO report then stated the officer attempted to grab the backpack through a now opened driver’s window, prompting the man to pull what turned out to be a replica gun, aiming it at the officer.

The first witness on scene told IIO investigators that the officer drew their firearm, aimed towards the attacker’s neck before firing.

Archived dispatch audio then recorded the officer, “Shots fired, shots fired. I’m okay. Multiple shots fired. This guy is dead. I need help right now. I’m hanging on my car. I’m hanging on this guy. Just come here please.”

 

More: https://nanaimonewsn...r-nanaimo-mill/

 

Full report: https://iiobc.ca/app...th-2022-189.pdf