Civilian head of new Independent Investigation Unit introduced today

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This article was published 19/06/2015 (4099 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The next time a police officer shoots a suspect in Manitoba or stands accused of any other serious crime, former officers drawn from different police forces will head up the investigation into the accused officer’s actions.

The new permanent unit is made up of five investigators, one from the Calgary police force, another from the RCMP, one from the Canadian Armed Forces, one from the London Metropolitan police who moved back to Canada and worked with Great West Life, and one retired Winnipeg police officer.

The NDP’s new Independent Investigation Unit came into force Thursday, the final piece of the 2009 Police Services Act to be enacted as law.

The province introduced the first civilian head of the new unit at a press conference Friday: Former crown attorney Zane Tessler, who will be the first director of the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba.

“It is my privilege to be part of this new and historic chapter in policing in Manitoba,” Tessler said. In total the office has 13 permanent staff including the investigators who each count 20 plus years of experience in their fields. “Manitoba’s IIU joins an elite group of officers tasked with investigating serious incidents involving police,” Tessler said.

Attorney General Gord Mackintosh, along with Ian Grant, chief of the Brandon Police Service and vice president of the Manitoba Association of Chiefs of Police, Robert Taman and Nahanni Fontaine, the province’s special advisor on aboriginal women’s issue attended the announcement.

“The issue of police forces investigating themselves was an issue for decades,” the Attorney General said.

“It was raised in the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry and I know how concerned the public are when the police force investigates someone from the same force,” he added.

“The Taman inquiry put an exclamation mark on the need for a special unit to investigate serious allegations of police activity,” he added.

“When police forces investigate themselves it’s a no win situation. When an officer is exonerated, there are grounds for apprehension of bias in the outcome. And sometimes, it can be a cloud hanging over the officer, despite an exoneration. When charges are laid, officers may be entitled to believe police forces are bending over backwards to find a culprit. So independence is called for,’” the Attorney General said.

Crystal Taman was killed by then off-Winnipeg duty police officer Derek Harvey-Zenk in a car crash in 2005. In a controversial plea deal, Harvey-Zenk was convicted of dangerous driving causing death. Other charges of refusing a breathalyzer, impaired driving causing death and criminal negligence causing death were stayed by the Crown.

It was later revealed those charges were dropped because East St. Paul police botched the investigation into the crash. The East St. Paul police force was later disbanded by the province and its former police chief, Harry Bakema, was charged with perjury, obstruction of justice and breach of trust and later acquitted.

The way the case was handled prompted a provincial inquiry known as the Taman Inquiry. It recommended a civilian unit oversee investigations that involve police.

Robert Taman, the widower welcomed the new super police unit. “I’m happy today. The family is doing well and they see this as a legacy,” Robert Taman said.

“We’ve realized this was necessary, this part here, an independent investigation unit, was necessary and it took some time. I can look back and say there’s some significant progress,” Taman said.

The IIU, in Manitoba and Ontario, meanwhile, had been cited as far back as 2009 as an example for all provinces to follow, but it took years for this final piece of the legislation to be fine tuned with regulations to make it workable. In the meantime, Alberta and British Columbia passed similar legislation and set up units and Quebec is currently working on a unit.

The practical nature and the fast pace of the unit’s investigations mean the province can’t turn to civilians with no police experience to run down leads and follow up on evidence, so under regulatory framework was written to draw on a pool of experienced detectives.

There is also provision for a civilian to monitor the unit’s work and report back to the Manitoba Police Commission. In other cases where the unit services aren’t necessary, the new director of the super police unit also has the authority appoint a civilian to oversee internal police investigations of officers.

The unit expects to handle anywhere from 30-50 calls for cases a year, financed by $2.5 million annual from Manitoba Justice.

Nahanni Fontaine reminded media that a series of deaths of aboriginal men in Winnipeg — J.J. Harper in 1988, Matthew Dumas (2005), Craig McDougall (2008)and Michael Langan who died as a result of a Taser charge in 2008.

All involved police use of firearms or force that spurred a strong aboriginal lobby for the super police unit. Harper’s death triggered the province’s Aboriginal Justice Inquiry.

“The work was happening from the time of J.J. Harper. Our people lobbied hard for this for many, many years. That’s why it’s important, this historic moment. that we remember all of those people who came before all of us here, who had the dream to have this kind of investigations unit,” Fontaine said.

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca

— with files from The Canadian Press