Watchdog investigating Peel police chief, officers

Family alleged police failed to adequately probe deaths

Ontario’s police watchdog has of launched Chief Jennifer an investigation Evans into and the other Peel Regional Police officers after the surviving relatives of three family members found dead years apart in their home alleged that police failed to adequately investigate the first two deaths. Police did not treat the 2009 death of Bill Harrison or the 2010 death of Bridget Harrison as homicides until their son, Caleb Harrison, was murdered on Aug. 23, 2013, five years ago this week. The Office of the Independent Police Review Director( OIPRD)i sin v es ti- gating the family’s complaint in two parts: one looking into the actions of officers involved in the investigations, another probing the conduct of Evans.

“The things we learned at trial and since have clearly concerned us,” said Wanda Jamieson, a Harrison family friend.

“We need to get to the facts behind what went wrong.”

The Police Services Act requires the OIPRD to send complaints about chiefs to the relevant police services board, which has the power to decide whether the watchdog investigates.

The fact that the investigation into Evans’s conduct proceeded means that the Peel Police Services Board must have determined “that there may be misconduct,” according to an explanation of the screening process on the OIPRD website.

Evans, a longtime Peel cop who became chief in 2012, came under fire earlier this year for delays and silence surrounding an internal Peel police review meant to examine what went wrong in the Harrison death investigations. She later apolo- gized for her actions.

Peel police have “full confidence in our review process,” a police spokesperson said in a statement.

“We are aware the OIPRD is conducting a review and we welcome any additional insights it may offer.”

All three members of the Harrison family died in their Mississauga home on Pitch Pine Cres. Caleb’s ex-wife, Melissa Merritt, and her common-law spouse, Christopher Fattore, were convicted in January of first-degree murder in his death.

Fattore was also found guilty of first-degree murder in Bridget’s death and not guilty of second-degree murder in Bill’s death.

The jury could not reach a verdict on Merritt’s charge of firstdegree murder in the death of her ex-mother-in-law.

The convictions followed a three-month criminal trial in which prosecutors argued the Harrisons were murdered at key moments in a bitter custody battle over Merritt and Caleb’s two children.

A Star investigation documented the failures of Peel police, coroners and pathologists in the first two death probes. Merritt and Fattore have both filed appeals.

Evans launched an internal review in February, suspended it in March, then reinstated it. The chief said the suspension was meant to ensure the review did not interfere with the criminal appeal.

At a Peel Police Services Board meeting in June, Evans apologized to the Harrison family for leaving relatives with the impression that she had been “avoiding dealing with this” and vowed to make the review findings public. A police spokesperson said the review is expected to conclude in late summer or early fall.

The Office of the Independent Police Review Director is an independent, arm’s-length government agency that reviews public complaints against police and decides whether to investigate. The watchdog does not comment on individual cases.

An OIPRD spokesperson said the agency aims to complete investigations within 120 days, but has up to six months under rules of the Police Services Act.

If OIPRD investigators find that allegations against specific officers are substantiated and serious, the police chief must hold a disciplinary hearing.

If investigators find that the complaint against Evans is substantiated and serious, the police services board, which is her employer, must either hold a hearing or refer the matter to the Ontario Civilian Police Commission.

The Office of the Chief Coroner and the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service are conducting their own internal review into what went wrong in the Harrison death investigations. That review was expanded in June to include missed homi- cides dating all the way back to the case of Tammy Homolka in the 1990s.

Relatives of the Harrison family want an independent review that probes the actions of all involved — police, coroners and pathologists.

“Overarching public inquiry into systemic issues, such as gaps and failures in communication and co-ordination among the police, coroners, forensic services and our family court system, is needed to prevent such tragedies in the future,” Jamieson said.

At the board meeting in June, Bill Harrison’s sister, Elizabeth Gallant, said her family is concerned about the “secretive” internal review and asked the board to champion their request for an independent and transparent examination.

“Why should we — in fact, anyone, including the board — put its faith in an in-house review conducted by fellow police officers, when the Peel police failed us so badly?” Gallant said.