Police watchdog responds to calls for change after Nunavik shooting
Provincial organization says report will be released in Inuktitut and English but cautions that investigations take time
Kativik Regional Government is reviewing the practices of the Nunavik Police Service after the third police shooting in eight months occurred last week in Inukjuak. (File photo)
Quebec’s police watchdog says it will release results from its investigations in English and Inuktitut when they are ready — and no sooner.
The Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes was responding to calls for change at the agency issued this week by Kativik Regional Government and Makivvik after the second police-involved shooting death in the region in six months.
Kativik Regional Government demanded in a May 9 statement the Bureau, which investigates incidents in which civilians are seriously injured during contact with police, accelerate the speed of its investigations.
It also called for reform of the way the provincial government organization carries out its investigations, for it to hold public meetings in affected communities, publish its findings in Inuktitut, and commit to completing its final reports within six months of an incident occurring.
The Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes responded this week in a letter to KRG.
“The BEI is sensitive to the impact of procedural delays on all those affected and impacted by these events,” said a summary of the letter, obtained by Nunatsiaq News.
“With this sensitivity at heart, the BEI must nevertheless carry out rigorous and comprehensive investigations in line with its legal obligations.”
The bureau is investigating two police-involved shooting deaths in Nunavik.
The most recent incident occurred May 6 when a male in Kangiqsualujjuaq was shot and died during a confrontation with Nunavik Police Service officers.
The other happened Nov. 4 in Salluit when Joshua Papigatuk was shot and killed, while his twin brother Garnet Papigatuk was severely injured, also during a confrontation with Nunavik police.
The Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes investigates when someone dies or is seriously injured during contact with police, all criminal allegations against a police officer by an Inuit victim or complainant, and allegations of sexual offences against police officers.
The summary of the bureau’s statement said final results from 87 per cent of its investigations are given to the province’s Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions, which decides whether charges will be laid. Those results are given within nine months of the events happening.
Some investigations take longer due to their complexities, the summary said, such as expert reports being produced by different partners, which also must adhere to legal obligations. The delays to obtain those documents are beyond the bureau’s reach, it said.
It said bureau investigators are in constant contact with people who are involved in the incident, and see their role as being a “family investigator.” They ensure assistance, a listening ear to answer questions when possible, and support them throughout the process.
The investigators will advise the people impacted and the public when the reports are going to be submitted to the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions.
“We are committed to providing a version of our public communications in English and Inuktitut,” the statement summary said.
When a decision is made, a meeting will be held with the people impacted and a prosecutor from the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions office will explain the decision.
The bureau said that until the separate investigations into the two police-involved shootings are complete, it will not publish any information about them prior to sending its report to the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions.
Come to kivalliq andbsee what these are doing too. They have video footage too from RCMP buildings, body cam and truck dash cam can be investigated too. There is always excuses on behalf of RCMP and left unanswered to inuit. Look at the missing person in arviat nunavut and RCMP couldn’t last year when the missing person happen.
“Mr. Commissioner, I have to tell you, we’re not even at five minutes to midnight, we are at one minute to midnight,” Larose told the Quebec Inquiry into Indigenous Relations with Certain Public Services in Kuujjuuaq QC.
“Unfortunately, if we do not have an agreement before Christmas, I will be obligated to go to the Sûreté du Québec [Quebec Provincial Police] to take on the task of public security in Nunavik.”
APTN News Nov.23, 2018
As a victim of police brutality and an inuk man, I can say a complaint won’t reach past the entry of a complaint, period. BEI? Cops copping cops? Protecteur Citoyen? Hah? Commission des droit de la personne? Even bigger joke. Don’t waste your energy. We are Inuit and are more than expendable to the interests of the politically powerful.
The Shooting to kill adopted from the training in other police forces is not good. Not here where cultures languages ethnicities collide.