Family of man who died after arrest calls for police accountability, transparency

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This article was published 09/02/2024 (577 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The anguished family of a 35-year-old First Nations man who died after an altercation with police in late January is calling for accountability and law-enforcement reform.

“Our son’s death is an unspeakable tragedy that demands justice and systemic change,” said 61-year-old Brian Wood on Friday, with his wife and other family members at his side, calling for transparency in the death of James Edwin Wood, originally of O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation in Manitoba’s North.

“As parents, we are living through a nightmare that no one should ever have to experience. Our beloved son James was a kind-hearted and loving individual who was taken from us in a horrifying and senseless manner.”

Shortly after midnight on Jan. 28, police were called to an apartment complex on Fairlane Avenue, between Freemont Bay and Buchanan Boulevard in the Crestview area, over what Winnipeg Police Service Chief Danny Smyth described as a domestic incident involving an intoxicated man and his girlfriend, who was concerned for her three children.

Police arrived a few minutes before 12:30 a.m., after the man wandered into the complex’s parking lot area and fell down on a snow-covered boulevard.

He did not immediately comply with police requests to turn onto his stomach, and one officer produced a Taser electro-shock device while several others piled onto him, as he kicked his legs.

According to witnesses who saw the arrest unfold, and videos that captured much of the incident, officers beat Wood with a baton and used the Taser before carrying him away — limp — out of the view of cameras. Smyth previously said the officers had restrained Wood and he became unresponsive as he was being escorted to a police car.

Police called for an ambulance and Wood was taken to Grace Hospital, and then Health Sciences Centre, where he was pronounced dead.

The Independent Investigation Unit, a civilian agency that probes all serious incidents and deaths involving police in the province, is examining the circumstances of Wood’s death.

“We implore society to recognize the need for police reform to address the systemic biases and excessive use of force that disproportionately affects marginalized communities,” said Brian Wood. “His death should serve as a catalyst for change in how law enforcement interact with the community.”

The family called for improvements in police training and cultural competency, along with implementation of body cameras with footage reviewed and stored by an independent agency. As well, Wood’s relatives want community-led initiatives to foster trust and collaboration between police agencies and Indigenous communities and for law enforcement to diversify police forces.

Family members and OPCN Chief Shirley Ducharme emphasized that improved de-escalation training for officers should be a priority.

Hilda Anderson-Pyrz said Wood grew up in OPCN, where her nephew loved spending time on the land with his father, fishing and trapping.

“James was a very outgoing individual, he loved to laugh, he loved to have fun,” she said, adding that he had seven children and four siblings, one of whom has since died.

She declined to discuss his death further in light of the IIU probe, other than to say his family members are traumatized after watching the video taken by witnesses and a doorbell camera.

“Our human rights are continuously violated and not upheld as Indigenous people in this country. We continue to experience loss after loss, tragedy after tragedy,” she said.

“This country needs the political will to create transformative change so that, as Indigenous people, when we’re calling on services or supports, we don’t die.”

Anderson-Pyrz said government should enact legislation to create a new civilian law-enforcement oversight body with representation from families and the Indigenous community to investigate alleged police misconduct more transparently and discipline officers found to have done wrong.

“As my family, we stand before you with heavy hearts, but also with the unwavering determination to address the deep-rooted issues of systemic racism and police brutality,” she said.

She said she wants governments to ban discriminatory practices, such as racial profiling, and create a national database to track police misconduct to prevent officers with a history of misconduct from getting new jobs in other jurisdictions.

The family has retained a lawyer, but has not yet said whether civil action is being contemplated.

The WPS did not respond to a request for comment Friday.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca