From: SIRT <SIRT@novascotia.ca>
Date: Tue, Jun 11, 2024 at 1:27 PM
Subject: RE: Attn Erin Nauss we just talked Correct???
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com>
Hello Mr. Amos,
Thank you for your correspondence. All your correspondence has been shared with the Director.From: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Jun 11, 2024 at 1:09 PM
Subject: Attn Erin Nauss we just talked Correct???
To: <sirt@gov.ns.ca>
Monday 10 June 2024
Monday 10 June 2024
RE The Killing of David Amos and His Family
Deja Vu Anyone???
https://davidraymondamos3.
Friday 2 April 2021
Russia warns NATO against deploying troops to Ukraine
Deja Vu Anyone???
From: Justice Minister <JUSTMIN@novascotia.ca>
Date: Fri, 27 May 2022 21:32:19 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: :I called AGAIN today Correct???
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
Thank you for your email to the Minister of Justice. Please be assured
that it has been received by the Department. Your email will be
reviewed and addressed accordingly. Thank you.
---------- Original message ----------
From: Premier <PREMIER@novascotia.ca>
Date: Fri, 27 May 2022 21:31:47 +0000
Subject: Thank you for your email
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
Thank you for your email to Premier Houston. This is an automatic
confirmation your message has been received.
As we are currently experiencing higher than normal volumes of
correspondence, there may be delays in the response time for
correspondence identified as requiring a response.
If you are looking for the most up-to-date information from the
Government of Nova Scotia please visit:
http://novascotia.ca<https://
Thank you,
Premier’s Correspondence Team
---------- Original message ----------
From: Ministerial Correspondence Unit - Justice Canada <mcu@justice.gc.ca>
Date: Fri, 27 May 2022 21:27:13 +0000
Subject: Automatic Reply
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
Thank you for writing to the Honourable David Lametti, Minister of
Justice and Attorney General of Canada.
Due to the volume of correspondence addressed to the Minister, please
note that there may be a delay in processing your email. Rest assured
that your message will be carefully reviewed.
We do not respond to correspondence that contains offensive language.
-------------------
Merci d'avoir écrit à l'honorable David Lametti, ministre de la
Justice et procureur général du Canada.
En raison du volume de correspondance adressée au ministre, veuillez
prendre note qu'il pourrait y avoir un retard dans le traitement de
votre courriel. Nous tenons à vous assurer que votre message sera lu
avec soin.
Nous ne répondons pas à la correspondance contenant un langage offensant.
---------- Original message ----------
From: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
Date: Fri, 27 May 2022 18:23:52 -0300
Subject: :I called AGAIN today Correct???
To: dmacneil@truro.ca, dpike@amherst.ca, bourdap@halifax.ca,
mayor@halifax.ca, mackins@halifax.ca
Cc: motomaniac333 <motomaniac333@gmail.com>, PREMIER
<PREMIER@gov.ns.ca>, JUSTMIN@novascotia.ca, mcu@justice.gc.ca
https://davidraymondamos3.
Friday, 27 May 2022
RCMP wanted 2011 tip about N.S. gunman to 'go away': Truro police chief
Independent watchdog investigating after man dies following 'interaction' with RCMP in Shediac
Unidentified 43-year-old died after being Tasered by police during medical call
The Serious Incident Response Team is investigating an incident in Shediac last week that led to the death of a 43-year-old man after an "interaction" with RCMP during a medical call.
According to a news release from SIRT on Wednesday, emergency medical services were sent to a residence on May 29 for a man "in medical distress." Southeast RCMP were called to assist.
"When police arrived, they entered the residence and located the male," states the news release. "An altercation ensued between police and the male and a taser was deployed."
The man went into "medical distress" and was taken to hospital where he later died.
When reached by phone Wednesday, SIRT director Erin Nauss said the incident occurred at an apartment in Shediac. She declined to provide other details, including the nature of the medical problem, since they will become part of the investigation of the incident.
The team is responsible for investigating all matters that involve death, serious injury, sexual assault and intimate partner violence or other matters of a public interest that may have arisen from the actions of a police officer.
Erin Nauss, director of the Serious Incident Response Team, also known as SIRT. (Submitted by Erin Nauss)
The Nova Scotia-based response team investigates incidents in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
Last October, SIRT opened a New Brunswick office in Marysville Place in Fredericton. Earlier in the year, the province finalized an agreement with Nova Scotia to expand SIRT to New Brunswick, with its own office and resources, to investigate serious incidents involving police officers — and more than two years after an agreement in principle.
The Nova Scotia-based response team has been the go-to agency, but it didn't always have the resources to take on New Brunswick investigations, forcing the province to look elsewhere for cases, including the two high-profile shooting deaths of Chantel Moore and Rodney Levi in June 2020.
Nauss said SIRT currently has 10 "active/open" investigations in New Brunswick.
All SIRT investigations "are under the direction and control of an independent civilian director, who has the sole authority to determine if charges should be laid at the conclusion of an investigation," according to the press release on the Shediac incident.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Related Stories
Inquest into Hampton RCMP shooting death ends with 6 recommendations
Ryan Nowlan was shot by 2 officers at his Kingston Peninsula home in 2021
A coroner's inquest into the death of a man who was shot by Hampton RCMP while responding to a domestic violence call at his home has ended with six recommendations to prevent a similar death.
The jury delivered its recommendations Wednesday afternoon after hearing evidence from 12 witnesses over two days regarding the death of Ryan Nowlan.
Nowlan, 39, was Tasered and then shot twice by two officers after they found him armed with a utility knife in a closet in his basement during the early morning hours Dec. 31, 2021. He had choked his ex-partner, slammed her head into a door and threatened to burn down the home they still shared after he was woken up by one of their three children who got up to use the washroom.
Nowlan was later pronounced dead at the Saint John Regional Hospital from the gunshot wounds to his chest and abdomen, and the blood loss associated with those — at least a litre, the pathologist testified. The coroner's death certificate lists the manner of death as homicide.
The five jurors recommended more extensive and continual training for law enforcement regarding domestic violence.
Hampton
RCMP constables Monique Sears and Christian Cunningham found Ryan
Nowlan armed with this utility knife when they responded to his home on
the Kingston Peninsula, the jury heard. He refused to drop the knife, so
Cunningham Tasered him. Nowlan then lunged at the officers, so they
both shot him. (Coroner Services)
Officers involved in a domestic dispute should also have "adequate background knowledge" on a suspect prior to entering the premises, they said.
Re-entering potential high-threat areas to retrieve non-vital belongings should be avoided, as should further contact between a victim and perpetrator in domestic disputes.
In addition, the jury recommended that people with a history of restraining orders in domestic violence cases be required to receive mental health treatment and that victims of domestic violence have better access to available resources.
The basement closet area of Nowlan's Kiersteadville Road home where police found him armed with a utility knife and shot him. (Coroner Services)
Presiding coroner Michael Johnston said he'll deliver the recommendations to the relevant agencies.
Those agencies will have about six months to respond, he said. The recommendations are comprehensive and they need time to consider their impact.
Johnston noted they are recommendations only — not orders, but any responses will be included in the coroner's annual report, he said.
"It is through this process that the community can be satisfied that the death has not been overlooked, concealed or ignored."
Domestic violence death review pending
The province's domestic violence death review committee will now review Nowlan's case, according to deputy chief coroner of administration Emily Caissy, who chairs the committee.
A review has been "on pause" pending the outcome of the coroner's inquest, she testified Wednesday.
The multidisciplinary committee, made up of scholars, physicians, police officers and frontline workers, reviews all deaths where domestic violence was a contributing factor.
The investigating coroner, Walt McKinney, determined domestic violence was a contributing factor in Nowlan's case, said Caissy. He identified 28 of the 43 potential "lethality" or risk factors, she said.
These included a history of domestic violence, including an assault while the victim was pregnant, prior threats to kill the victim, prior stalking or harassment of the victim, prior hostage-taking or forcible confinement, and threats against the children.
Other factors included an escalation of violence, a sense of fear of the perpetrator, having a protective order or peace bond, excessive alcohol or drug use by the perpetrator, depression in the opinion of family, friends or acquaintances, other mental health or psychiatric problems, and a failure to comply with authority
The committee, which aims to reduce the incidence of deaths attributed to domestic violence, typically comes up with recommendations, said Caissy.
For example, it has previously recommended more training on domestic violence for police officers and other agencies, such as the nurses' association, she said. It has also recommended awareness campaigns to ensure people are aware of the risk factors.
Knife dictates firearm being drawn, instructor testifies
Earlier in the day the jury heard from Sgt. Luc Samson of the Grand-Bay Westfield RCMP, who was the on-call sergeant for the district on the day of the shooting.
Samson, a 17-year veteran of the RCMP and a use-of-force instructor, said "there's a million things" that police consider going into a situation.
These can include the person's behaviour, criminal record, mental health or history of substance abuse, he said, along with "situational factors," such as where the incident is occurring and whether any children are present, as well as their personal experience dealing with similar circumstances.
Options on the "continuum of force" range from mere police presence, "all the way to lethal force being used where we fear death or grievous body harm" to police or members of the public, said Samson.
Grand
Bay-Westfield RCMP Sgt. Luc Samson said New Brunswick Mounties go to
Fredericton every three years for a week of training on a wide range of
issues to get recertified. (Graham Thompson/CBC)
No two situations are the same and the use of force is "based on the totality of the situation."
But he noted officers are taught at the RCMP academy that if someone is armed with an edged weapon, such as a knife or box-cutter, it's important to draw their firearm.
"The knife scenario is a pretty basic one because it's a very easy, recognizable risk," said Samson. "'He's got a knife, I could die.'"
RCMP also have a 21-foot rule when it comes to edged weapons, he told the jury.
"The odds are 99 per cent of the time the person will close [that] distance to you faster than you will have the reaction, 'Holy smokes, someone's coming at me with a knife, I need to draw my firearm' — draw it and then discharge it. … And it can be a fatal encounter for you."
'Only option available'
Luc Côté, team commander of Nova Scotia's Serious Incident Response Team (SiRT), testified that shooting Nowlan was "the only option available to the officers."
SiRT, an independent police watchdog agency, was called in to investigate the officer-involved shooting and found no grounds to lay charges against the two officers. The force used was "justified and not excessive," the May 2022 report concluded.
Côté, who became involved in the Nowlan file as an investigator in March 2022 when the previous investigator retired, said not all cases are "as clear as what we have in this case."
Nova
Scotia's Serious Incident Response Team investigation relied on the
RCMP to assist in its investigation of the 2021 officer-involved
shooting, said team commander Luc Côté, but would now seek the services
of outside agencies rather than use the same force involved to 'ensure
transparency and independence,' he said. (Roger Cosman/CBC)
Had Nowlan dropped the knife, or had nothing in his hands and put his hands up, "I know it's hindsight … but there's a high likelihood that that would have been the end of the interaction," he said. The officers would have simply arrested him and taken him into custody.
"Mr. Nowlan had a say in what took place on that day," said Côté. "He made a conscious decision …to pick up a utility knife, he made the conscious decision to refuse to drop the knife.
"He also just made the decision to lunge at the police officers."
In cardiac arrest more than 30 minutes
The jury also heard from the emergency room physician who treated Nowlan. Dr. Jaynanand Mekwan said Nowlan was in cardiac arrest when he arrived.
The rate of recovery from cardiac arrest in a non-traumatic event is only about 10 to 30 per cent, he said, and in a traumatic event, such as a shooting, it drops to about two per cent "in the most favourable circumstances."
Mekwan made an incision in Nowlan's chest to try to relieve the pressure and blood "started to pour out," but his heart never restarted. Mekwan declared Nowlan dead at 6:03 a.m., after more than 30 minutes without a pulse.
Forensic pathologist Dr. Ken Obenson, who performed the autopsy, said the gunshot wound to Nowlan's chest was the "most severe," as it caused "extensive trauma" to his liver, spleen and left kidney.
A toxicology analysis showed the presence of cannabis, but no illicit drugs or alcohol.
Mountie 'broke down' after learning man she shot in 2021 died, coroner's inquest hears
Ryan Nowlan, 39, was shot twice by 2 Hampton RCMP officers during domestic call at Kingston Peninsula home
One of the RCMP officers who fatally shot a knife-wielding man on the Kingston Peninsula while responding to a domestic call on New Year's eve in 2021 "broke down" when she learned the man had died, according to a colleague.
Hampton Const. Mike Alward told a coroner's inquest he was the one who informed now-retired Const. Monique Sears of Ryan Nowlan's death.
"It was one of the hardest things I've had to do with a coworker was to tell her that unfortunately, Ryan was no longer with us," he said.
Nowlan, 39, was pronounced dead at the Saint John Regional Hospital shortly after 6 a.m., the jury heard. He had been Tasered and shot twice by police — in the right shoulder and right abdomen.
An investigation by an independent police watchdog agency in May 2022 found no grounds to lay charges against the two officers — now identified as Sears and Const. Christian Cunningham.
Nowlan, who was not named at the time, had assaulted his ex-partner, threatened to burn down their home and attacked police while armed with a utility knife, according to a report by Nova Scotia's Serious Incident Response Team.
The force the officers used "was justified and not excessive," it concluded.
Sears, who was injured in an altercation with Nowlan at his home on Kiersteadville Road, and was at the hospital, had asked how he was "making out," said Alward.
"So I took a deep breath and I said, 'Monique, why don't we wait and I'll check in on you a little bit later?
"She goes, 'No, I need to know now, I need peace of mind. I want to know how he's making out, how he's doing.'
Alward said he struggled to find the right words and when he told her, "instantaneously, she broke down and she was emotional."
He was glad Sears's husband was there with her, he added. "He took care of her and just consoled her."
The inquest, which began Tuesday at the Saint John Law Courts building, is scheduled to continue until Friday. (Roger Cosman/CBC)
A coroner's inquest into Nowlan's death was announced last Friday and began Tuesday at the Saint John Law Courts building. Presiding coroner Michael Johnston and a jury made up of three men and two women are publicly hearing evidence from witnesses to determine the facts surrounding his death.
The jury will also have the opportunity to make recommendations to prevent other deaths under similar circumstances.
Alward told the jury he was off duty but on-call when he was dispatched at 4:40 a.m. to "an incident at an address that the night shift needed assistance with."
"I didn't receive a whole lot of information, other than I needed to get to the address," he said.
While en route, Alward was told he needed instead to find and follow the ambulance Nowlan was in and arrest him at the hospital.
He waited in the emergency department, where Nowlan was being treated behind closed curtains. There were "a lot of comings and goings," he said.
Once Nowlan was declared dead, Alward said he called the coroner and later assisted staff in transporting his body to the morgue to ensure continuity.
Paramedic didn't think he'd survive
The jury also heard from Nathan Archibald, one of the primary care paramedics who attended Nowlan's home around 4:53 a.m.
Nowlan was on the floor in the basement, and saying he couldn't breathe, said Archibald.
Archibald noted the police Taser prongs were still in Nowlan's shirt and when he cut off the shirt, he saw the two gunshot wounds.
There wasn't much blood, he said, but Nowlan's abdomen was distended, which can be a sign of internal bleeding. Later on, it became evident he also had a collapsed his lung, he said.
He was getting worse very fast. I had the impression that he would not be alive by the time we got to the hospital.
- Nathan Archibald, paramedic
By the time they headed to the hospital, around 5:15 a.m., Nowlan's heart rate had dropped from around 140 beats per minute to 90.
"Usually when your body starts to lose massive amounts of blood, your blood pressure will fall quite quickly and as a compensation mechanism, your body will start increasing your heart rate to match your blood pressure," said Archibald.
"So it seemed as though he was his body was starting to decompensate, so he was starting to basically lose his fight, I guess."
On the way to the hospital, Nowlan's heart rate and respiratory rate both kept falling and it was harder to keep him awake.
"He was getting worse very fast," said Archibald.
"I had the impression that he would not be alive by the time we got to the hospital."
Suffered cardiac arrest in ambulance
Archibald had requested assistance from advanced-care paramedic Caleb Cummings.
Cummings told the jury he's trained to perform more procedures and dispense more medications, and carries extra equipment in his "clinical support unit." He typically goes to all "high-acuity calls" within a 15-minute radius of City Road in Saint John, where he's stationed, he said.
That night, he heard the dispatch call regarding gunshot wounds and started heading in that direction, "just to be ready." Once he received the request for backup at 4:58 a.m., he proceeded with his vehicle's emergency lights and siren on, he said.
Cummings met the ambulance at the Hampton onramp to Highway 1 heading west toward Saint John at 5:25 a.m., grabbed his gear and jumped in the back with Archibald a couple of minutes later. He estimates they remained on the side of the road for about three minutes before proceeding to the hospital.
Nowlan was pale and unresponsive, he said. He wasn't breathing and went into cardiac arrest.
Cummings gave him three rounds of epinephrine five minutes apart to try to get his heart beating properly again. They also continued chest compressions, but Nowlan had no heartbeat for about 20 minutes by the time they arrived at the hospital, he said.
Upset about being awoken by daughter
Earlier in the day, the inquest heard from the two Mounties as well as Nowlan's ex-partner.
She went to the Hampton RCMP detachment during the early morning hours to report she had been assaulted by Nowlan in the house they still shared with their three children.
Nowlan became upset when he was woken up by one of the children who got up to use the washroom.
Nowlan assaulted the woman by choking her and "pushing her head into a door with enough force as to cause visible damage to the door," according to the report by Nova Scotia's Serious Incident Response Team.
He also threatened to burn down the house if she left the residence or called the police, and then took away her cellphone, as well as her daughter's.
She fled to the police detachment with her daughter, but their young son was still in the home, sleeping, while the third child was staying elsewhere that night.
Refused to drop knife
The Mounties accompanied the woman back to the house to retrieve some clothing from the basement, when they were confronted by Nowlan, who was hiding inside, with a utility knife in his hand.
He refused to drop the knife, so Cunningham Tasered him, the jury heard. Nowlan fell but got back up and the Taser didn't work a second time so Sears shot him in the shoulder.
Nowlan punched Sears in the face with the handle of the knife, causing a laceration above her eye and to her cheek, then advanced toward Cunningham who shot him in the abdomen.
Nowlan's stepmother sat in the front row for the proceedings with her two brothers.
The inquest continues Wednesday. It's scheduled to last four days.
RCMP charges one of its own in Moncton with crimes against a child
Independant watchdog SIRT involved in investigation of unnamed officer
The RCMP have charged one of their officers with criminal offences against a child following an investigation by the Serious Incident Response Team.
According to a news release from SIRT, the officer was charged on Monday "under Part V (five) of the Criminal Code."
The heading on that section of the criminal code is "sexual offences, public morals and disorderly conduct."
The release also said SIRT worked with the RCMP's Integrated Child Exploitation unit and Digital Forensic Services.
When reached by phone Monday afternoon, SIRT director Erin Nauss said the officer was stationed with the Codiac RCMP at the time of the alleged offences, but is now working outside New Brunswick.
She also confirmed that the complainant is a child and that the offences are alleged to have occurred "at or near Shediac" between April 24 and 29.
Erin Nauss, director of the Serious Incident Response Team, also known as SIRT. (Submitted by Erin Nauss)
Nauss declined to provide any more details, saying it is important to protect the integrity of the investigation and court process.
The RCMP in New Brunswick were asked to provide information about the officer's employment status, but have not responded to the request.
SIRT is responsible for investigating all matters that involve death, serious injury, sexual assault and intimate partner violence or other matters of a public interest that may have arisen from the actions of a police officer.
The Nova Scotia-based response team investigates incidents in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, where they opened an office in Marysville Place in Fredericton last October.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Roundtable: Police Oversight, Supervision and Accountability
September 14, 2022 9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Primary site location:
Dartmouth Hilton Hotel
101 Wyse Rd
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
To listen to live audio from the proceedings, call 1-877-385-4099 (toll-free) and enter code 1742076, followed by the # sign.
Register to attend proceedings in-person.
Share your suggestions for change to help inform the Commission's final report and recommendations to help make our communities safer.
Webcast
Agenda
- Roundtable: Police Oversight, Supervision and Accountability
- Members include:
- Dr. Holly Campeau: Assistant Professor of Sociology and Criminology at the University of Alberta, specializing in the intersection between criminology, cultural sociology and sociology of law.
- Dr. Benjamin Goold: Professor at the Allard School of Law and holds degrees in law and economics from the University of Tasmania, as well as a BCL and doctorate from the University of Oxford.
- Ms. Jihyun Kwon: PhD Candidate in Criminology and Sociolegal Studies at the University of Toronto.
- Ms. Michelaine Lahaie: Appointed as Chairperson of the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP on January 2, 2019.
- Dr. Bethan Loftus: Senior Lecturer in Criminology and Criminal Justice at Bangor University.
- Professor Kent Roach: Professor of Law at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law.
- Dr. Kanika Samuels-Wortley: Assistant Professor at Toronto Metropolitan University and Visiting Fellow at the School of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet) at Australian National University.
- Participant Representatives - Afternoon Session
- Ms. Emma Arnold, Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland Nova Scotia - Nominated by: Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland Nova Scotia
- A/Comm Alfredo Bangloy, Director, National Conduct Management Section - Nominated by: RCMP
- S/Sgt. Wes Blair, EMRO, H Division RCMP - Nominated by: RCMP
- Mr. Luc Cote, Team Commander, Serious Incident Response Team - Nominated by: SiRT
- Ms. Hayley Crichton, Executive Director, Public Safety and Security Division - Nominated by: Department of Justice Canada
- Ms. Kristina Fifield, Trauma Therapist, Avalon Centre - Nominated by: Gender Coalition (Avalon Sexual Assault Centre, LEAF and Wellness Within)
- Ms. Joanne Gibb, Senior Director of Strategic Operations and Policy, Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP - Nominated by: Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP
- Ms. Meghan McDermott, Policy Director - Nominated by: BC Civil Liberties Association & East Coast Prison Justice Society
- Supt Corry Pyne, Professional Responsibility Officer - Nominated by: RCMP
- Ms. Melinda Sellers, Senior Advisor, Policy Development - Nominated by: Public Safety Canada
- Ms. Emily Stewart, Executive Director of Third Place - Nominated by: THANS/WSC/Be The Peace
- Commissioner Lindell Smith, Board Chair, The Board of Police Commissioners - Nominated by: Halifax Regional Municipality
- Ms. Julie Thompson, Director General Policing Policy Directorate - Nominated by: Public Safety Canada
- Members include:
Visit the Roundtables webpage to learn more about the core themes of the roundtables and the members participating.
Note
- Visit the calendar for the proceedings schedule.
- View the documents section for Research, Foundational Documents and Additional Exhibits that are entered into evidence during proceedings.
- To learn more about the Commission's third and final phase of work, visit the frequently asked questions page.
- All timing, agendas, format and schedules are subject to change and will be updated here as required.
West Hants RCMP corporal retiring after career devoted to the pursuit of justice
WINDSOR, N.S. — Cpl. Luc Cote, with the West Hants Regional RCMP detachment, is getting ready to hang up his hat after a 25-year policing career.
Cote, who has lived in Hants County for 19 years, has spent 11 years serving the Windsor area, first from 2002 until 2008 and again from 2015 to present.
Cote, who grew up in Grand Falls, N.B., finished his training in 1995. His first posting was to Shelburne. In 2002, he transferred to Windsor, then in 2008 went to Chester and then the RCMP Major Crimes Unit. He returned to Windsor in 2015.
Related stories
“It’s a big decision but it’s one that I thought was the right decision at the right time. It’s all about turning the chapter,” said Cote.
When looking back at his career, he said highlights always include being able to serve the community.
“I know it sounds cliché but when you’re making a difference in people’s lives that’s got to be the rewarding part obviously,” he said.
“It’s not about me, it’s about the people that I’ve policed all these years.”
Although he’s not retiring from working — he has accepted a position with a provincial government body — he’s looking forward to the next chapter in his life.
Cote has no plans to relocate.
“I’ve lived here longer than I’ve lived anywhere in my life, so this is home for my family and I,” he said.
Staff Sgt. Cory Bushell, who now serves the East Hants RCMP detachment, worked with Cote for two years while he was in command in West Hants. He says Cote was the utmost professional.
“I am not one who makes a habit of throwing large bouquets. However, there are some among us who deserve proper recognition,” said Bushell.
“Throughout my RCMP service to date, I have been seconded or posted to a total of 13 units or detachments in two provinces and one territory. As a result, I have had the privilege of working directly with many, many RCMP members and employees,” he continued.
“Cpl. Cote stands out as one of the most competent, professional and dedicated members I have ever worked with. He is tireless in his attention to duty, his pursuit of justice, and adherence to doing the best job possible for the public, his members, and the RCMP.”
Bushell congratulated Cote on his retirement and wished him success with his future career plans.
2 Mounties shouldn't be charged in fatal shooting on Kingston Peninsula, agency finds
Force used against knife-wielding man was 'justified and not excessive'
Two RCMP officers who shot and killed a knife-wielding man on the Kingston Peninsula last New Year's eve, after he assaulted his ex-partner and threatened to burn down their home, should not face criminal charges, says an independent police watchdog agency.
The officers had reasonable grounds to believe the force they used was necessary to protect themselves after they arrived at the home during the early morning hours, an investigation by Nova Scotia's Serious Incident Response Team concluded.
The man, whose name has not been released, was armed with a utility knife, which he refused to drop, and moved toward the officers, according to the report, released Thursday by the Department of Justice and Public Safety.
They used a Taser, which caused the man to fall to the ground and roll around. But then he stood up again with the knife still in his hand.
They tried to use the Taser two more times, but it stopped functioning.
Struck officer in face with knife
The man moved toward the first officer, who shot him in the shoulder. It caused the man to move backwards momentarily, but then he "lunged at [the officer] and struck them in the face with the utility knife."
With that officer now on the ground, the man advanced toward the second officer, who shot him in the stomach.
Paramedics administered first aid at the scene, but the man "flat-lined" in the ambulance, shortly before arrival at the hospital, according to the report.
Police
officers are entitled to apply as much force as is necessary to protect
themselves from force or threat of harm from an offender, says the
Serious Incident Response Team. (CBC)
There was "clear evidence that the [man] intended to cause death or grievous bodily harm to the [officers]," the report says. "The [officers] therefore had reasonable grounds to believe that the use of force was necessary for their self-preservation.
"An assessment of the force used in the circumstances, viewed objectively, clearly establishes that the force used was justified and not excessive. Accordingly, the actions of [the officers] did not constitute a criminal offence. Therefore, no charges are warranted against either officer."
Upset over being awakened by child
The incident began when a woman went to the RCMP detachment in Hampton to report she had been assaulted by her former partner in the house they still shared, according to the report. She lived on the main floor with her two children and he lived in the basement.
The man became upset when he was awakened after one of the children got up to use the washroom, and he went to the main level "yelling and screaming."
He assaulted the woman by choking her and "pushing her head into a door with enough force as to cause visible damage to the door," the report states.
He also threatened to burn down the house if she left the residence or called the police, and then took away her cellphone, as well as her daughter's.
Was hiding in closet
That's when she and her daughter fled in their pyjamas and headed to the police station, leaving her sleeping son behind.
She was "very concerned" about the boy. She was "frantic and crying the entire time she was with the [officers] at the detachment and subsequently at the residence," the report states.
When they accompanied her to the basement to retrieve some clothing from a closet, they were confronted by the man, who was hiding inside, with a utility knife in his hand and his arm raised.
The investigation was undertaken at the request of the Department of Justice and Public Safety through a memorandum of understanding, according to a news release.
N.B. RCMP call for independent investigation after man dies following police shooting
1 officer received non-life-threatening injuries
New Brunswick RCMP say Nova Scotia's Serious Incident Response Team will conduct an investigation into a shooting incident involving police early Friday that resulted in a man's death.
According to a media release, RCMP say two members of the Hampton Detachment responded to a call at Kingston, N.B., residence at 3:47 a.m.
Police met the man who was the subject of the complaint. The situation eventually resulted in both members firing their guns, the release states.
The man was taken to hospital, where he died. Police say first aid was applied at the scene.
One of the officers is at home with non-life-threatening injuries from the incident.
New Brunswick RCMP requested the external investigation. Police won't comment on the details of the incident, saying it would be inappropriate during an investigation.
The Serious Incident Response Team said an investigator is at the scene.
Saturday 25 November 2023
Independent police watchdog agency to open office in N.B.
Independent police watchdog agency opens N.B. office in Fredericton
Nova Scotia-based Serious Incident Response Team plans to hire an assistant director, 2 investigators soon
It comes more than nine months after the province finalized an agreement for Nova Scotia to expand its Serious Incident Response Team, known as SIRT, to New Brunswick, with its own office and resources, to investigate serious incidents involving police officers — and more than two years after an agreement in principle.
The Nova Scotia-based response team has been the go-to agency, but it didn't always have the resources to take on New Brunswick investigations, forcing the province to look elsewhere for cases, including the two high-profile shooting deaths of Chantel Moore and Rodney Levi in June 2020.
The Fredericton office opened at Marysville Place in October and its lone investigator is a seconded RCMP officer, said Erin Nauss, interim director of SiRT, based in Halifax.
"We are taking on all matters still in New Brunswick on an ad hoc basis until we have that office fully staffed," she said.
"But in effect we are taking on all matters in New Brunswick. Our officers from Nova Scotia have been travelling to assist as needed when our one seconded officer is not able to handle all that work."
Filling positions is among 'highest priorities'
SIRT is in the process of hiring an assistant director and two full-time investigators for New Brunswick, said Nauss. The postings closed about two weeks ago. An administrative support position will also be posted soon.
"It's one of my highest priorities to have these positions filled in New Brunswick so that we can be fully operational," said Nauss, who stepped into the interim director role last month after the former director, Alonzo Wright, was appointed a provincial court judge.
Erin
Nauss, interim director of Nova Scotia's Serious Incident Response
Team, says getting the New Brunswick office fully operational is a
priority. (Submitted by Erin Nauss)
"We've been managing to provide excellent service to date using the resources that we have, but I think that service will only be strengthened by having folks in those positions located in New Brunswick. And so we're going to continue to move forward as quickly and expeditiously as we can to have those positions filled."
Asked why the positions are only being filled now, Nauss said they were previously posted under her predecessor, but there "wasn't a huge response" for the bilingual jobs.
She suspects the fact SIRT is new to the province may have been a factor.
The Serious Incident Response Team is an independent civilian-led agency that investigates incidents that stem from RCMP or municipal police actions, including death, serious injury, sexual assault, domestic violence and "other matters of significant public interest."
At the conclusion of every investigation, the director reviews the report, decides whether the officer or officers involved should face criminal charges, and issues a public summary, which outlines the reasons.
10 open investigations
SIRT has been "managing" with the New Brunswick demand since the oversight agreement was reached earlier this year, said Nauss.
Between Jan. 1 and Nov. 23, it has received 20 referrals from the province, she said.
Of those, five investigations have been completed, while 10 remain open. Nauss could not immediately provide any details.
The other five cases did not meet the SiRT mandate, she said.
"For New Brunswick, I think they can continue to have confidence in the administration of justice and how these incidents are investigated."
Department of Justice and Public Safety spokesperson Sarah Bustard said the delay in the office opening has not impacted SIRT from "receiving or reviewing New Brunswick cases for investigation."
She did not address what, if any, effect it's had on the start or completion of investigations.
The department expects the office to "formally open" in the new year, said Bustard.
$560K a year allocated
New Brunswick has budgeted about $560,000 a year to cover SIRT services, according to Bustard. This includes hiring investigators and administrative staff, as well as operational costs.
"If the costs are higher or lower, the budget can be adjusted in future years, and any unused budget remains with the Department of Justice and Public Safety," she said in an emailed statement.
The investigator positions pay between $3,561 and $4,452 biweekly, while the salary range for the assistant director is $6,277 to $6,779 biweekly.
Asked whether New Brunswick will have any input on who is hired, Nauss said she may seek representation from the province on the interview panel. "I haven't made that determination yet."
"Ultimately, it's the governor-in-council of Nova Scotia who makes the appointment," she said, adding they will be Nova Scotia employees.
Nauss declined to reveal how many people applied for the latest job postings, but did say she's "quite hopeful" the positions will be filled.
Necessary qualifications and experience
An investigator applicant must have a bachelor's degree, at least five years' investigative experience at a senior level in law enforcement, and supervisory, team-building and communication skills, said Nauss.
Applicants also need knowledge of the Criminal Code and other relevant statutes, experience in preparing and presenting cases for court, and expertise in the rules related to the collection and preservation of evidence.
Other qualities include "good judgment, integrity, objectivity, tact, and strong ethical values," said Nauss.
Luc
Côté, team commander of Nova Scotia's Serious Incident Response Team,
has been handling any New Brunswick files that require a bilingual
response. Other Nova Scotia officers have been assisting as needed until
the Fredericton SIRT office is fully staffed, said Nauss. (Roger Cosman/CBC)
The assistant director, who will oversee and review investigations, must have a law degree, experience in criminal law, and have never been a police officer "to help ensure that impartiality, objectivity and independence," Nauss said.
They also need to "understand and exercise the proper use of discretion," have excellent conflict resolution skills and be able to provide leadership to investigative staff, she said.
The administrative position will involve general office administration and assisting investigators with disclosure.
Nova Scotia's director position has not yet been posted. Nauss said she hasn't decided whether she'll seek the permanent post, focusing for now on the "job at hand."
Nauss was a lawyer with Nova Scotia's Department of Justice for 17 years and has been involved with SIRT since its inception.
Nova Scotia government appoints new director of police watchdog agency
Nova Scotia has appointed a senior Crown prosecutor as the next director of the province’s police watchdog agency.
Alonzo Wright will become director of the Serious Incident Response Team, or SIRT, as of Jan. 9.
Wright is replacing retired Crown attorney John Scott, who was appointed interim director when Felix Cacchione, a former judge, retired in May.
Justice Minister Brad Johns described Wright as an accomplished prosecutor who has handled some of the province’s most demanding and complex cases.
Wright is a graduate of Dalhousie University’s Schulich law school and has also practised criminal law and worked for the federal Department of Justice.
SIRT provides civilian-led oversight of policing by investigating serious incidents involving police, independent of both government and police.
The agency investigates all matters that involve death, serious injury, sexual assault and domestic violence, or other matters of significant public interest that may have arisen from the actions of any municipal police or RCMP officer across the province.
Nova Scotia reached an agreement in principle with New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island in 2021 that allows SIRT to act as the police oversight body for those two provinces as well, with formal agreements expected to be completed next year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 20, 2022.
Serious Incident Response Team Director Appointed
The Province has appointed Alonzo Wright, KC (King’s counsel), as Director of the Serious Incident Response Team (SiRT).
Mr. Wright, a senior Crown attorney with the Nova Scotia Public Prosecution Service, replaces retired Crown attorney John Scott, who was appointed interim Director when Felix Cacchione retired last May.
The appointment takes effect January 9.
“Mr. Wright is highly regarded and has many years of experience as an accomplished Crown prosecutor, handling some of the province’s most demanding, high-profile and complex criminal cases,” said Brad Johns, Minister of Justice and Attorney General. “He is an excellent choice to lead this respected agency. I also want to thank John Scott for his service as interim Director and for his leadership during the time we worked to secure a new permanent director of SiRT.”
Mr. Wright is a graduate of Dalhousie University’s Schulich School of Law and has been a member of the Nova Scotia Barristers Society since 1995, serving on numerous committees. He has practised criminal law, serving as a prosecutor across the province. He has also worked for the federal Department of Justice and was a municipal Crown attorney with the Halifax Regional Municipality.
SiRT provides civilian-led oversight of policing by investigating serious incidents involving police, independent of both government and police. The agency investigates all matters that involve death, serious injury, sexual assault and domestic violence, or other matters of significant public interest that may have arisen from the actions of any municipal police or RCMP officer across the province.
Mr. Wright will oversee a team of four investigators and an administrative support person.
Quotes:
“It’s an honour to be appointed, and I look forward to this new challenge. I also look forward to serving the people of Nova Scotia and working with the team of SiRT, the community and police.”
– Alonzo Wright, Director, Serious Incident Response Team
Quick Facts:
- Mr. Wright has extensive experience as a community leader and volunteer, notably as a basketball coach with the Gottingen Street Community Y in Halifax for more than 20 years, and as a referee, including at this year’s Canada Summer Games in Ontario
- he has received a number of awards for his volunteerism, including the A. Gordon Archibald Award, which recognizes alumni for outstanding volunteer contributions to Dalhousie
- SiRT averages about 25 investigations per year; in 2020-21, it opened 44 files and conducted 24 investigations, which led to charges against four police officers
- Nova Scotia reached an agreement in principle with New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island in 2021 that will allow SiRT to act as the police oversight body for the two provinces
- the formal agreements are expected to be completed in early 2023
Additional Resources:
More information on SiRT is available at: https://sirt.novascotia.ca/
The SiRT is able to receive referrals from police, the Minister of Justice, and members of the public, in relation to matters that have occurred after April 20, 2012. If you have any questions about the SiRT or its work, or you believe a serious incident has occurred that may fit the SiRT's mandate, please contact the Team using the contact information below. If you are making a referral, you will be asked to give a summary of the incident in question outlining what occurred. In the end, it is up to the SiRT Director to determine if a matter fits the Team's mandate. The Director or one of the SiRT investigators may be in contact with you directly to obtain further information before making that decision.
https://news.novascotia.ca/en/2024/04/24/serious-incident-response-team-director-appointed
Serious Incident Response Team Director Appointed
Erin Nauss has been appointed the new Director of the Serious Incident Response Team (SiRT).
The Province has appointed Erin Nauss as Director of the Serious Incident Response Team (SiRT).
Ms. Nauss served as interim director of SiRT for the last seven months and was involved in its establishment under the Police Act in 2011. She has 18 years of legal experience and practised briefly in the private sector before joining the Nova Scotia Department of Justice as a solicitor in 2007. She has experience managing teams and has taken on various leadership roles throughout her career.
The five-year appointment takes effect immediately.
“The Serious Incident Response Team has an important mandate on behalf of Nova Scotians,” said Barbara Adams, Minister of Justice and Attorney General. “Ms. Nauss has done an exceptional job leading SiRT as interim director, and we’re pleased to appoint her as permanent Director.”
SiRT provides oversight of policing by independently investigating serious incidents involving police in Nova Scotia and News Brunswick. It is civilian-led and its work is independent of both government and police.
Ms. Nauss will oversee a team of seven investigators, an assistant director and administrative staff located in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
Quotes:
“It’s an honour to be appointed, and I look forward to continuing to work with the SiRT team, the community and police.”
— Erin Nauss, Director, Serious Incident Response Team
Quick Facts:
- SiRT averages about 30 investigations per year, based on the five-year average from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024
- in 2022-23, it opened 55 files and conducted 44 investigations, which led to charges against six police officers
- in 2023-24, it opened 53 files and conducted 39 investigations, which led to charges against seven police officers (as of February 23, 2024)
- In February 2023, SiRT expanded to New Brunswick with an office in Fredericton and plans are underway to expand SiRT services to Prince Edward Island
Additional Resources:
More information on SiRT is available at: https://sirt.novascotia.ca/
Why lawyers say alleged police wrongdoing in Assoun case can't be forgotten
British Columbia watchdog agency dropped case in April citing workload issues
For Sean MacDonald, the push to restart a criminal investigation into police destruction of evidence in the Glen Assoun
wrongful conviction case matters both for personal reasons and for the precedent it could set.
The defence lawyer, who teamed with Phil Campbell in the long battle to prove Assoun's innocence, said the ordeal took a huge health toll on the Nova Scotia man, whom he first met in 2006 as he languished in prison for the 1995 murder of Brenda Way.
"Glen suffered and continued to suffer up until the day that he died," MacDonald said in an interview Wednesday, referring to Assoun's death last June at the age of 67.
Assoun spent almost 17 years in jail and five years under strict bail conditions before being acquitted of the killing in 2019. Four months after his acquittal, the province's Supreme Court released the federal investigation of the case, which revealed that an RCMP constable's evidence — both electronic and paper files — pointing toward alternative suspects had been deleted or was missing.
But nearly four years later, a probe of the alleged evidence destruction remains stalled. The British Columbia watchdog agency that originally agreed to investigate dropped the case in April, citing workload issues, and Nova Scotia's justice minister said recently he has adopted a "wait-and-see" approach on what to do about the probe.
'A watershed moment'
MacDonald recalled that in the months before he died, Assoun was unhappy about the sudden halt to the probe and wanted his lawyer to battle on. MacDonald and other Canadian legal experts say the fight has broad implications.
"This has the potential to be a watershed moment because it will raise the bar for police conduct and create a dimension of accountability that, up to this point, to my knowledge has never existed," he said.
MacDonald, who also sits on the board of the legal advocacy group Innocence Canada, says of the 29 findings of wrongful convictions since 1993, Assoun's is the only one he's aware of in which a watchdog agency has been charged with looking into alleged police wrongdoing by both officers and their supervisors.
In 2020, Innocence Canada reviewed seven public inquiries going back to the 1989 royal commission on the prosecution of Donald Marshall Jr. in Nova Scotia. It found only one instance of an officer being prosecuted in a wrongful conviction case, but the case was dropped due to the officer's poor health.
Meanwhile, the issue of police accountability in wrongful convictions remains front and centre, including in the case of
Robert Mailman and Walter Gillespie. The two men were cleared this
month in a 1983 murder in Saint John, N.B., after serving lengthy prison
terms.
Innocence Canada has argued that police tunnel vision and the non-disclosure of important evidence, along with disregard for the men's strong alibis, occurred in the case.
Probe and public inquiry needed: lawyer
Lawyer Ian Scott, who directed Ontario's Special Investigations Unit — a police watchdog agency — from 2008 to 2013, said in an interview he believes both the criminal probe and an independent public inquiry is needed to prevent future destruction of evidence.
Scott said in a recent interview the Assoun case stands out because it involves allegations that a senior RCMP officer was aware of evidence and didn't disclose it to defence counsel.
"It should have been disclosed ...
It was not disclosed at the appeal and [the RCMP
investigator's] superiors were involved in the suppression of that
evidence," he said.
The revelations about the alternative
suspects evidence were released on July 12, 2019, after The Canadian
Press, CBC and the Halifax Examiner won a legal victory to have the
information unsealed.
The 82-page case assessment by Justice Department lawyer Mark Green laid out how a joint RCMP-Halifax police unit was alleged to have deleted files created by an RCMP constable who was using an analytical database, referred to as ViCLAS.
His analysis suggested that serial killer Michael McGray and Avery Greenough, who had committed sexual assaults, were potential suspects.
Files went missing
Green's report also said that file boxes of Const. Dave Moore's investigation notes had all gone missing while he was on vacation.
According to the federal report, Moore was "able to place McGray in the immediate area where Brenda Way worked and lived," by analyzing his welfare cheques. The constable also developed a theory that Greenough may have picked up Way in his vehicle on the night of the murder.
The report described how this wasn't disclosed to Assoun's defence by senior RCMP officers as the defence tried to overturn his conviction before the Court of Appeal in 2006.
The RCMP's response in 2019 was to point to an internal review about the destruction of Moore's computer analysis and state there was "no malicious intent," though there were policy breaches. The report argued a single "overzealous" junior officer was likely responsible for deleting Moore's analytical files.
Scott said this review remains insufficient.
"I don't think the public should accept that at face value," he said.
Team in discussions with police oversight agency
Anthony Moustacalis, former president of a national association of criminal lawyers, said in an interview Wednesday that if the criminal probe isn't revived, "the public loses confidence in the justice process."
Meanwhile, MacDonald said he believes records of emails on RCMP servers and interviews with former officers could yield results.
"There was information and documents that were contained inside of a highly secured office that somehow disappeared," he said.
Erin Nauss, the interim director of Nova Scotia's Serious Incident Review Team, said in an interview Tuesday that she is in discussions with a police oversight agency to take over the Assoun investigation, after contacting every oversight agency in the country.
"We'll continue those efforts and should that not be successful, then I am open to exploring other options and being as creative as I need to be to ensure this matter is looked at."
https://www.moosejawtoday.com/national-news/ns-premier-seeks-probe-of-possible-criminality-by-police-in-assoun-case-2721496
N.S. premier seeks probe of possible criminality by police in Assoun case
Stephen McNeil told reporters Thursday the attorney general will ask the Serious Incident Response Team to assess whether there was criminal misconduct by police during the period before the appeal of Glen Assoun's conviction.
Assoun, 64, also lived under strict parole conditions for almost five more years before a Nova Scotia Supreme Court ruling in March 2019 reversed his 1999 conviction for the murder of Brenda Way. Way was found with her throat slashed in a Dartmouth, N.S., parking lot in November 1995. The crime remains unsolved.
"I've asked the minister (of Justice) to refer this file to Serious Incident Response Team, the independent agency in this province," McNeil said following a cabinet meeting. "They will assess whether or not this is criminal in nature."
In July 2019, a federal Justice Department report revealed an RCMP unit that included Halifax police officers had destroyed a constable's database of information about other suspects in Way's murder, along with physical evidence the officer had gathered to back up his case.
The destruction of evidence occurred prior to Assoun's 2006 appeal hearing, which he lost.
Const. Dave Moore had tried repeatedly to tell his superiors his work was relevant, and yet it was never disclosed, according to the Justice Department's report. The Mounties have cited an internal review about the destruction of Moore's work, and have said there was "no malicious intent."
McNeil said if the watchdog determines such an inquiry is not in its mandate, then the province would "look at what are the other options for review of that process." The watchdog agency has a mandate that includes investigations of matters of "significant public interest" stemming from the actions of police officers.
Agency director Felix Cacchione said Thursday his office hasn't received a request to investigate the case, "so it's inappropriate to comment at this time."
Cacchione, a former judge in the Nova Scotia Supreme Court, has said in an earlier interview with The Canadian Press that he felt the case falls outside his office's mandate, because the events occurred before SiRT was created.
Justice Minister Mark Furey told reporters his office is preparing a request for the police oversight agency.
"We've looked at what options we have available," Furey said Thursday. "One of the options is to engage SiRT on the specifics of this particular matter and determine if it's within their mandate."
Furey, a former RCMP officer, said if SiRT determines that the case falls in its mandate, "then we can have further discussion about appropriate resourcing."
"Right now, I'm waiting hear back through the department."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2020.
Michael Tutton, The Canadian Press
Former SIRT director: RCMP memo, meetings didn't sway decision on Onslow fire hall shooting
David Westlake, the
emergency management co-ordinator for Colchester County, runs inside the
Onslow Belmont Fire Hall after being shot at by two RCMP officers who
believed he was the mass shooter on April 19, 2020. - Mass Casualty
CommissionIn fact, it has only happened once during former SIRT director Felix Cacchione’s tenure: When his team investigated the shooting at the Onslow fire hall on April 19, 2020.
During SIRT’s investigation, retired Vancouver police officer Joel Johnston prepared a use-of-force report on the Onslow firehall shooting and presented it to the independent watchdog in December 2020.
Then in January 2021, SIRT received a memorandum by Sgt. Bobbie Haynes about Johnston’s report.
In the memo, Haynes, team commander of the RCMP’s Hazardous Occurrence Investigation Team (HOIT), analyzed and criticized the report that was before SIRT after he had received a copy.
In an interview transcript recently released by the Mass Casualty Commission, Cacchione said he doesn’t recall how the memo came to his attention, but noted it was odd.
“During your tenure, was it your practice, normal practice to get memos like this from HOIT or any other branch of the RCMP during an investigation?” asked lawyer Mark Underhill, one of three people to conduct the interview with Cacchione on Sept. 9, 2022.
“No,” Cacchione responded.
Cacchione agreed the move was out of the ordinary, adding he “never received something like that before or after.”
Related stories
But Cacchione also didn’t know how Haynes had a copy of Johnston’s report in the first place.
Cacchione said permanent investigators with SIRT, as well as the seconded officers, swear an oath not to disclose any information they have obtained during an investigation.
However, Cacchione said he wasn’t concerned when he received the memo from Haynes.
“My recollection was that they were looking at the officers, as I said before, occupational health and safety aspect,” Cacchione said. “I did not take this as any attempt to influence my decision in that file — the Onslow fire hall.”
A few days after Cacchione received Haynes’ memo, he met with Chief Supt. John Robin, as well as Haynes and other members of the RCMP — just under a month before SIRT’s investigation concluded.
A marble monument at the Onslow Belmont Fire Hall shows the
impact of an RCMP bullet after two officers opened fire when they
thought they had spotted the Portapique shooter on April 19, 2020. -
Harry Sullivan / File
According to Robin’s notes, Haynes again raised inconsistencies and omissions with Johnston’s report during the meeting.
“The last entry says, ‘Felix says, ‘Cst. (Dave) Gagnon will in no way be blamed for anything.’ And then in brackets, ‘(although he hasn’t completed report)’, and then it just ends with, ‘recognizes,’” Underhill pointed out to Cacchione.
Cacchione said while he doesn’t remember what he said about the officer who was present at the fire hall when the other two officers opened fire, but “if it’s in the notes, I probably said that.”
But Cacchione said neither Haynes’ memo nor the meeting with members of the RCMP swayed his decision when finalizing his report in February 2021.
“By that time, by January 21st, I had reviewed all of the materials and I was in the process of writing my report. But I had concluded, based on everything that I had considered … that Gagnon did not commit a criminal offence,” Cacchione said.
Ultimately, SIRT concluded the two RCMP officers who fired their firearms at the emergency management co-ordinator for Colchester County at the Onslow fire hall because they believed he was the mass shooter would not face charges.
But even after the meeting, Cacchione continued to meet with members of the RCMP regarding SIRT’s decision.
In March 2021, Cacchione met with Robin, Chief Supt. Chris Leather, Supt. Darren Campbell and other RCMP members at Todd Brown’s request.
Brown, director of public safety and field communications with Nova Scotia’s Department of Internal Services, had wanted to address a few concerns relating to the conclusions Cacchione had drawn on the TMR 2 system in his report.
“We were a little surprised that SIRT did not contact us for information related to this investigation,” Brown said in an email.
“Our office has multiple IT tools that allows us to do our own forensic analysis of network performance. No other organization – other than Bell Mobility – would have access to these tools, including the RCMP.”
Cacchione claimed the meeting was to educate him on the TMR 2 system, but Underhill questioned why RCMP members needed to be present at the meeting if that was its purpose.
“I don’t know,” Cacchione responded. “It was at (RCMP’s) H Division Headquarters and that’s where I went. As I said, I don’t recall them having any … making any comments during that meeting.”
Cacchione said nothing came of the meeting as it was after his report was released.
Cacchione, who retired last May, wanted to make it clear that he doesn’t believe the RCMP’s actions were an attempt to interfere with SIRT’s investigation.
“And it certainly if, if I had any inkling that anyone in the RCMP was attempting in any fashion to direct me as to how I should make a decision, I would have screamed loud and clear, and it would have been made to the public,” he said.
Felix Cacchione set to retire as head of police watchdog
Search for replacement underway
The search has begun
for a new head of the Serious Incident Response Team, the Nova Scotia
police watchdog which also investigates allegations of police wrongdoing
in New Brunswick and P.E.I.
The current director, former Nova Scotia Supreme Court justice Felix Cacchione, will retire at the end of May.
Cacchione has been in charge of SIRT for four years. That's after an 11-year career as a defence lawyer and 32 years as a judge.
Coming from a legal defence background, he said was struck by the ethical code of his team, made up of both current and former police officers.
"I think
what impressed me the most was the professionalism, the dedication, and
the objectivity and impartiality of the investigators," he said.
In the online retirement announcement, Nova Scotia Attorney General and
Justice Minister Brad Johns thanked Cacchione for his service.
"The knowledge and skills he brought to his position cemented the [SIRT's] reputation as a highly regarded civilian-led police oversight body," Johns said.
The province says SIRT currently conducts roughly 25 investigations a year.
In 2021, SIRT signed an agreement allowing it to perform investigations in all three Maritime provinces. Previously, SIRT investigated allegations involving police as requested by the New Brunswick and P.E.I. governments.
Cacchione says he'll play no role in choosing his successor, but hopes his replacement will be fluent in both English and French, given New Brunswick's bilingual status.
"It's important that the person listening to or reviewing an audio statement understand the meaning of the words, not the literal, but the nuances, their turns of phrases...that may mean something very different from a literal translation," he said.
Nova Scotia police watchdog expanding to New Brunswick
New agreement formalizes arrangement involving Serious Incident Response Team
Nova Scotia's police watchdog, the Serious Incident Response Team, will investigate cases involving officers in New Brunswick under a new agreement in principle between the two provincial governments announced Monday.
New Brunswick has for years has relied on agencies outside its borders to come in and investigate when there's a serious incident involving police. SIRT has conducted some of those investigations, but the new agreement will formalize the arrangement.
The team's mandate is to investigate serious incidents that stem from police actions, including death, serious injury, sexual assault, domestic violence and "other matters of significant public interest." It is independent, and in Nova Scotia can lay charges against police officers.
SIRT director Felix Cacchione said plenty of logistics will have to be worked out between now and when the agreement takes effect next year. He said the team will require three or four more investigators, which is double the current number.
"We did not have the manpower to cover two recent incidents in New Brunswick and had to refer them to other outside agencies," Cacchione said.
Chantel Moore, 26, and Rodney Levi, 48, were shot and killed by police in New Brunswick eight days apart. (CBC)
Those cases are the deaths of Chantal Moore and Rodney Levi, who were both shot by police within days of one another in June 2020.
Cacchione said the Quebec watchdog agency that eventually took on the Moore case was able to send eight investigators and its own forensic team.
Cacchione said he would prefer to have at least some of the new investigators based in New Brunswick, citing the long response times when investigators are dispatched from Halifax.
He said for cases in the Edmundston or Campbellton areas in northern New Brunswick, it would take investigators a minimum of eight hours just to get there from Halifax. He noted SIRT investigated one case along the side of the Trans-Canada Highway.
"That scene has to be maintained until the arrival of the SIRT investigators, the arrival of the forensic identification team and that posed a problem," he said. "The Trans-Canada has to be shut down."
Cacchione said the new arrangement will also require legislative changes. He said SIRT investigators are not currently recognized as peace officers in New Brunswick and have to get special clearance from the province's Justice Department every time they go there.
He said the New Brunswick process is also different because the provincial Public Prosecution Service must lay any charges, whereas he has the power in Nova Scotia to lay charges without Crown approval. He said he'd like to see changes to the New Brunswick system so that SIRT would operate under the same rules in both provinces.
Former Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge brings expertise, ‘gravitas’ to police watchdog
The waiting area of the Serious Incident Response Team, the
province’s independent police watchdog agency, is seen in Halifax on
Wednesday, April 18, 2018.
The Canadian Press/Andrew Vaughan
Most Canadian jurisdictions choose former prosecutors to watch the police, said Roach, a prominent University of Toronto law professor.
But Cacchione, the grandson of Italian immigrants to Montreal, is a veteran superior court judge and criminal lawyer – he retired from the Nova Scotia Supreme Court just weeks before being named director of the province’s Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT).
“The appointment of a former supreme court justice and former legal aid lawyer is exceptional,” said Roach in a recent interview.
The leaders of Canada’s special investigatory units have tended to focus on their main mandate: deciding if officers have broken the law and recommending prosecutions in serious incidents involving the police, ranging from shootings to sexual assault.
But Roach says there’s also a role for directors to refer cases that may not meet that bar to police complaints commissions, and to describe changes in policing that might avoid future incidents.
Roach – who has researched the special units in Ontario – says Cacchione could bring a “gravitas” that lends weight to anything he says on the underlying problems in policing, along with his recommendations on criminal prosecutions.
But Cacchione, 68, displays a judge’s prudence when asked if he will wade into wider policy issues when he handles investigations or in his annual reports.
“Depending on the situation, it may not be off limits,” he said during an interview Wednesday.
After growing up in Montreal’s east end, Cacchione studied at Dalhousie University’s law school in Halifax. He says he went into law and legal aid in part because he recalled his own parents lacking the money to afford legal help in a civil case.
Cacchione has had over 31 years of experience reviewing police investigations – including some that impressed him and others that left him shaking his head over their inadequacies.
The director says he’ll now turn his attention to becoming the overseer of the team’s inquiries, adopting a European-style “inquisitorial system” as he works with the office’s investigators and poses questions to them about each case.
He said any preconceptions he had that his staff or seconded officers might be biased towards police officers have been rapidly blown apart in his first days on the job.
“I’ve found these officers … don’t like anything that would smell of a dirty cop,” he said.
Cacchione said at this point, he’s focused on the basics rather than vision statements.
He’s already occupied with a high-profile case alleging a Halifax police officer assaulted a homeless man outside a shelter on Feb. 25. Ten days ago, two more cases came in, one from St. John’s, N.L., and a second in Nova Scotia, alleging sexual assault by an RCMP officer, swiftly exhausting the resources of his four-person unit.
“You’re busy with all of this, rather than thinking about where we’re going to be five years from now,” he said.
Amidst the sudden deluge of work, Cacchione is also dampening any expectations of a revamped or expanded organization.
“My hope is to continue doing the kind of work that my predecessor did, which was to provide independent, thorough investigations of complaints against police agencies or officers,” he said.
Meanwhile, John Sewell, a former mayor of Toronto and author of a book that examines policing oversight, is among those who argue agencies like SIRT need the budget and clear legislated mandate to also assess the “reasonableness” of police actions, and to make recommendations for change when that’s not the case.
“The Serious Incident Response Team (in Nova Scotia) looks like it will only deal with physical injuries. … It probably will be no more effective than the Special Investigations Unit in Ontario – that is, not very effective at all as a review mechanism,” Sewell wrote in an email.
While Nova Scotia’s Police Act allows Cacchione to refer matters to police complaints commissions, it doesn’t state – as Ontario’s yet-to-be proclaimed new legislation explicitly does – that his referral must be made public.
Ian Scott, the former director of the Ontario Special Investigations Unit, said in an interview that during his tenure from 2008 to 2011 he handled incidents that didn’t meet the bar of a criminal prosecution but which called for a disciplinary review that was open to the public.
He said SIRT directors may not always have the material they need to comment on policing policy because the officer involved isn’t compelled to turn over their notes or testify – something which they might be compelled to do in a non-criminal proceeding.
“It’s a bit of a tricky situation sometimes,” he said.
Cacchione makes the case that problems in police conduct can also be dealt with in fairly subtle ways.
“We often will have situations where it doesn’t meet the bar in terms of laying of a criminal charge but the material is sent to the police department for their internal investigation and disciplinary matters,” he said.
“Simply referring those things to their standards committee is saying something.”
Archie Kaiser, a law professor at Dalhousie and long-time friend of Cacchione’s, said in an email “having someone with judicial experience should boost public confidence.”
“The combination of the exactitude and restraint of a former judge and the investigative experience of the staff should be very auspicious in terms of ensuring high standards of policing and respect for the law,” he wrote.
Prior to Cacchione taking on the job, there had been discussions among the Atlantic provinces around the creation of a single regional police watchdog agency under the leadership of the Halifax office.
Cacchione says he’s open to proposals from other provinces, but raises some cautions.
“I understand how often the best intentions of government don’t get carried through,” he said.
“We’ve been talking about it since 2012. Here we are six years later and we haven’t really moved forward.”
Newfoundland and Labrador recently set aside $250,000 in its current budget, and $500,000 annually in following years, for the creation of an independent police oversight agency. However, in an interview, Justice Minister Andrew Parsons said no decisions have been taken yet on whether his province will create its own team or link to the Nova Scotia agency.
A spokesman for New Brunswick’s Justice Department sent an email saying his province remains interested in a unified agency, but refers to the topic as being in “preliminary discussions.”
Nova Scotia police watchdog, SiRT, names former federal justice as new director
Nova Scotia has appointed a former federal judge as director of the province’s Serious Incident Response Team (SiRT).
Felix Cacchione, who recently retired from the Nova Scotia Supreme Court after 32 years on the bench, will replace interim director John Scott.
Cacchione takes over the role on March 12.
“Mr. Cacchione is highly respected and brings over 40 years of knowledge, experience and skill to the position,” said Mark Furey, the attorney general and justice minister, in a news release.
Cacchione studied law at Dalhousie University in Halifax and has practised criminal law throughout his career. He was appointed a Nova Scotia county court judge in 1986 and a Supreme Court judge in 1993 when the courts merged“Nova Scotians are fortunate to have his calibre of expertise in the role. Under Mr. Cacchione’s direction, SiRT will continue to perform investigations to the highest quality.”.
SiRt, which began in 2012, investigates matters involving death, serious injury, sexual assault, domestic violence and matters of significant public interest that involve police in the province.
Cacchione will oversee a team of four investigators, which is made up of two civilians and two police officers.
The first head of Nova Scotia’s police watchdog signs off
Ron MacDonald, the first and, so far, only director of Nova Scotia’s police watchdog says he’s proud of the team that he’s built and is confident that it can continue to do its important work without him.
MacDonald, who is set to retire Oct. 23, 2017 says that the Special Incident Response Team (SiRT), the team that independently investigates all serious incidents which arise from the actions of police in Nova Scotia, has become an important piece of the justice system in the province during the first six years of its existence.
“Every organization needs to grow and change and improve, and we’ve been doing that and I know it will continue,” said MacDonald. “If I’ve done nothing else well, I’ve hired great people to work in SiRT as investigators and they’ll continue to do that work and that will hold SiRT in really good stead.”
Formed around a core team of six people; MacDonald, four investigators and a full-time assistant, SiRT has remained small and tight-knit.
https://globalnews.ca/news/3746609/head-of-nova-scotia-serious-incident-response-team-leaving-position/
Head of Nova Scotia Serious Incident Response Team leaving position
Posted September 15, 2017 10:28 am
Ron MacDonald has announced he is retiring as head of the province's Serious Incident Response Team.
File
The head of the the Nova Scotia Serious Incident Response Team (SiRT) is moving on.
Ron MacDonald is the first and only director of SiRT, which independently investigates all serious incidents which arise from the actions of police in Nova Scotia.
READ: N.S. police watchdog won’t press charges over alleged deletion of video
The Department of Justice says MacDonald “developed the independent investigations office from a concept to a highly-effective civilian oversight body.”
MacDonald will retire in October after 26 years in the civil service. He has accepted a new position as chief civilian director of the Independent Investigations Office in British Columbia.
“I thank Ron for his years of service and outstanding leadership at SiRT,” said Justice Minister Mark Furey in a news release.
“Our loss is B.C.’s gain. Because of Ron’s good work, Nova Scotia has an innovative model that is unique to Atlantic Canada and is respected across the country.”
Since it began in 2012, SiRT has investigated more than 120 cases.
WATCH: SIRT investigation in Bridgewater Police chief still not complete.
The Department of Justice says the process to hire MacDonald’s replacement will begin immediately.
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