Decision not to release police attackers’ names follows policy: minister
Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley says to trust the process in place when it comes to the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team’s decision to withhold the names of two attackers in recent police shootings.
“ASIRT’s policy is to not release names in those instances — I know there has been a lot of discussions around it and there has been a lot of discussions between all of the services,” Ganley said after an NDP event in Calgary on Saturday.
“I think we need to pick a principle and apply it consistently regardless of the circumstances, and I think that’s what they are doing.”
Ganley’s comments came after Calgary Police Association president Les Kaminski and CalgaryWest MLA Mike Ellis spoke out against ASIRT and the Calgary Police Service’s decision to keep the names out of the public eye.
“It’s a constant conversation going forward, but I think you shouldn’t make decisions that could affect the system based on one individual instance. This has been ASIRT’s policy for quite a while and I think it has been consistently applied,” Ganley said.
“The police services in the province, not including ASIRT, came together to have discussions about this recently.”
Ganley said she didn’t foresee changes in the future.
“That would have to come from ASIRT, but I do know these cases have a lot of public interest and so I do see the reason people are interested in those names,” Ganley said.
“I think the other thing that needs to be considered in these high-profile cases is our ability to ultimately prosecute, so a lot of time evidence needs to be preserved. There is a lot more going on there than is obvious at the first point, but I think when looking at it we need to weigh that transparency against the risks that ultimately prejudice the case.”
On March 27, the suspect in a string of attempted Abbeydale
carjackings opened fire on a pair of officers, sending Const. Jordan Forget to hospital with numerous gunshot wounds.
Less than two weeks later, a knifewielding man attacked an undercover officer eating lunch in an unmarked police vehicle in Bridgeland, in what’s been described as a botched robbery attempt,
Both attackers died in their attempts — the Abbeydale gunman’s body was found in a burned-out garage at the scene, while the Bridgeland attacker was fatally shot by the officer he’d attempted to rob.
ASIRT had previously declined a request by Postmedia to identify the Abbeydale gunman, referring to a 2015 policy signed by other Canadian police oversight commissions stating they won’t release the names of deceased “victims” for reasons of respect and privacy.
Ganley was in Calgary for a nomination meeting, in which she announced her candidacy in Calgary Mountain View.