Police-shooting inquest yields recommendations
A B.C. coroner’s jury has made 29 recommendations following an inquest into the police shooting of a mentally ill man in downtown Vancouver four years ago.
The recommendations into the death of Phuong Na (Tony) Du are directed at several agencies, including the Independent Investigations Office, the Vancouver Police, the Ministry of Health and the City of Vancouver.
Du was shot by Vancouver police officers on Nov. 22, 2014 at 41st Avenue and Knight Street.
Du was swinging a board when officers approached him on the street. One officer first tried to subdue him with a bean bag gun but it didn’t work and he continued advancing toward them and was shot.
The jury recommends the IIO automatically release its investigative files, where charges have not been laid, to the police agency so it can determine whether anything needs to be changed or improved. It also says the IIO needs to release information sooner to families so they can understand the tragedy and heal.
Six recommendations were made to the VPD, including stocking police vehicles with supplies to care for gunshot wounds such as compression bandages, chest seals and tourniquets.
VPD officers should also review first aid, and develop mental health training scenarios for situations where voice communication is difficult, such as hearing impairment, loud environments and language barriers.
Among the other recommendations were that all police agencies create an early warning system to identify people living with severe mental illness or substance use, and explore creating a mental health unit dedicated to connecting with people with mental health illness.
Officers responsible for harming community members should also receive a minimum of three counselling sessions.
The jury recommended that the five regional health authorities and the First Nations Health Authority share a health database to improve services for at-risk people with mental illness.
The inquest heard that Du was a gambling addict who had been barred from casinos and had lived with schizophrenia for more than 25 years.
Pivot Legal Society had also recommended a series of changes for police dealing with people with mental illness, including more crisis training for officers and 911 call takers and, wherever possible, the use of shields instead of guns and Tasers when dealing with a person in distress where violence is possible.
In a statement Friday, the victim’s family said Du was a gentle soul who always wanted to help people with nothing expected in return. “Tony was one of those rare people in our times that were still truly altruistic,” the family said in the statement.
They described him as always having a smile on his face and an “immense love” for his family, especially his mother, with whom he was very close.
It took 11 months for the IIO to complete its investigation; bad on it, the Crown said it had no reason to lay charges against the officers.