Video available by following this link.
Jenna Owsianik , (CTV BC) – Recently released security footage reveals the final hours of Clay Willey, a man who died nine years ago after being arrested, hog-tied and Tasered by police in Prince George, B.C.
The video was originally played in 2004 for a coroner’s inquest into Willey’s death, but was made public on Tuesday as the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP released its final report into the incident.
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs watched the tape before it made its way to the public.
“I was deeply shaken by what I saw; it was very brutal. It was incredibly ugly,” Phillip told CTV News.
The footage begins with Willey arriving at the RCMP detachment hog-tied.
The public complaints commission says officers then pulled him out of the police vehicle by his feet, and he hit the door and fell onto the concrete floor.
The video also shows Willey being dragged face down along a hallway to an elevator and being jolted by a Taser while still bound.
The commission’s report ruled officers did not use excessive force during the arrest, but the use of the Taser was deemed “unreasonable, unnecessary and excessive.” The report said the two officers who dragged Willey “failed to treat him with the level of decency to be expected from police officers.”
But David Eby of the BC Civil Liberties Association says the CPC report is not credible because it didn’t point out a number of serious concerns, including how it took eight-and-a-half years for the case to come to the public’s attention.
He also added the report didn’t aggressively press the RCMP for taking 14 months to respond to an interim report examining the death and it didn’t take the actions of the officers in the video seriously.
“The allegations, even in the version of events preferred by the officers, reflect conduct that could be considered criminal and should be criminally investigated and potentially charged,” Eby said.
“That that is not considered to be an assault or at least investigated as an assault by police is a real problem in our system.”
Willey died in hospital the day after his arrest after suffering several heart attacks. He also had rib fractures and bruises.
Solicitor General Shirley Bond told CTV News in a statement that she was pleased with the commission report.
“The province has taken several steps to enhance the justice system, including responding to all of Justice Braidwood’s recommendations from his two reports, creating the independent investigations office and establishing new provincial policing standards for how police are trained, how they use force and how they interact with individuals in crisis,” she said.
Bond added that she could not comment further because of an ongoing civil lawsuit filed by Willey’s family against the RCMP and the potential for a public inquiry.
A coroner’s inquest deemed the Willey’s death was accidental and caused by a cocaine overdose.
[Source]
Hey, how could this have been swept under the rug. You would not be hearing about it, in the papers or having the CPC doing an investigation now could you? The fact that it took 9 years only shows you how slow the system is and if you don’t believe that just check on how long it takes to get a case heard in BC courts, any tribunal hearings, or even the HRC.
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The use of Force Model (IMIM) Incident Management Intervention Model should be used to explain a police officers use of force.
It would be bad enough if they did this under cover of hallways and cells. These members are doing this knowing that they are being videoed. What is their mind set?
The usual responses aside:
This is the exception of the RCMP; not the rule.
Other police agencies do the same at times.
What have you done to change the system?
This was clearly access use of force!!!
Calvin Lawrence
(Former PDT Instructor)
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What has the Force done to correct the system? Awesome question.
This occurred nine years ago and was swept under the rug. As you well know, this was often the practice of the Force. They did everything they could to protect their image. Consequently, due to the excessively slow response of management, others have been injured and killed.
In my opinion, the turning point started when the video of Robert Dziekanski was released. But the Force didn’t understand. I had conversations with senior policy people and they believed the Dziekanski case would blow over in the public’s mind. They didn’t get it then and I don’t think they don’t get it now.