Chair-Initiated Complaint: Use of Conducted Energy Weapon on 11-year-old boy in Prince George on April 7, 2011

April 14, 2011

As Interim Chair of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP, I am initiating a complaint into the conduct of those RCMP members involved in the deployment of a Conducted Energy Weapon (CEW) in respect of an 11-year-old boy in Prince George, British Columbia on April 7, 2011, and the adequacy of the actions taken by the RCMP in response to the incident.

The facts as presently known indicate that on April 7, 2011 in the late afternoon, RCMP members responded to an emergency call from a residence in Prince George where a 37-year-old male had been stabbed. The 11-year-old male suspect in the incident was located in a nearby property. A CEW was used on the boy when he exited that property, following which he was taken into custody and transported to hospital for assessment.

I am initiating this complaint with the full appreciation that the West Vancouver Police Department is conducting a criminal investigation into this incident at the request of the RCMP. It is not my intention to prejudice that investigation. However, given the ongoing expressions of public concern as they relate to this matter and to the use of CEWs in respect of children, I am satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to investigate the circumstances surrounding this incident as well as the handling thereof.

Accordingly, pursuant to subsection 45.37(1) of the RCMP Act, I am today initiating a complaint into the conduct of all RCMP members or other persons appointed or employed under the authority of the RCMP Act involved in this incident, as well as into matters of general practice applicable to situations involving the use of CEWs in respect of children, specifically:

1. whether the RCMP members or other persons appointed or employed under the authority of the RCMP Act involved in the events surrounding the apprehension of the unidentified 11-year-old boy on April 7, 2011 complied with all appropriate training, policies, procedures, guidelines and statutory requirements relating to police use of force;
2. whether the RCMP's national, divisional and detachment-level policies, procedures and guidelines relating to the use of CEWs are adequate; and,
3. whether the actions taken by the RCMP in response to the incident were taken in accordance with all applicable policies, procedures, guidelines and statutory requirements for the conduct of such an investigation and whether such policies, procedures and guidelines are adequate.