RCMP officer cleared in Island man’s death

Duncan resident died a day after police checked him

B.C.’s police watchdog has cleared North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP officers of wrongdoing in connection with the death of a Duncan man who died the day after police checked on him.

The Independent Investigation Office, a civilian-led agency that probes policeinvolved deaths or serious injuries in B.C., investigated to determine whether the officers’ actions or lack of actions had any impact on the man’s death.

In a report released Friday, the IIO determined that the police officers did not commit an offence when they did not apprehend the man under the Mental Health Act.

According to the IIO’s report, North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP received a 911 call at 2:39 p.m. on Dec. 14, 2019, from an Alberta woman who said she received messages from the man saying he was consuming fentanyl and was going to kill himself. The woman told police the man had often experienced suicidal thoughts, that he had previously attempted suicide and that he would likely deny suicidal thoughts.

Two officers responded to the man’s home about 2:51 p.m. and talked to the man for 30 minutes. The man told police he was not planning to kill himself, and had only said that to the woman to “get a rise” out of her.

He said he was planning to see a counsellor and had upcoming visits from home-care workers and his parents. The man did say he consumed fentanyl.

Officers gave the man information about community mental-health resources and determined he did not have to be apprehended under the Mental Health Act. After the police left, the Alberta woman received a message from the man saying he was OK.

The next morning, the man’s stepfather stopped by and found that he was sleeping, but later in the day, his parents found him in medical distress. B.C. Emergency Health Services paramedics performed CPR for 20 minutes but could not save the man’s life.

The B.C. Coroners Service confirmed that, according to toxicology tests, there was a concentration of carfentanil in the man’s blood consistent with “both lethal and non-lethal outcomes.” The report said there is no definitive evidence on the cause of the man’s death.

IIO investigators took statements from two civilian witnesses, analyzed police dispatch and police database records, reviewed toxicology tests and reviewed the RCMP’s policy around Mental Health Act calls.

The Mental Health Act allows officers to apprehend those who appear to be acting in a manner that endangers themselves or others and to be suffering from a mental disorder.

The investigation looked at whether there was any negligence in the way the officers handled the situation, but determined that “objectively, there were insufficient grounds to apprehend [the man] and that there was nothing more that the officers could reasonably have done.”