The province’s police watchdog is investigating a case where a man was allegedly injured in the custody of Pitt Meadows RCMP.
The Independent Investigations Office of BC (IIO) is looking into the case that happened on May 29, in a police detachment cell.
Preliminary information provided by the RCMP states a man was initially arrested for theft and taken into custody. Once identified, the man was found to be in violation of a condition of a court release order, and was transported to the detachment and placed in the lockup.
After being taken to a cell, the man started behaving in a manner that required officers to temporarily restrain him, said police. Officers later decided to re-enter the cell, because of safety concerns, and an interaction occurred between the man and officers, said the IIO.
The arrested man subsequently complained of an injury, and was taken by ambulance to a hospital for assessment and treatment.
The IIO was notified of the incident the following day, and has commenced an investigation.
There are two factors the IIO considers at the beginning of each investigation:
• If there has been an injury that meets the threshold of serious harm, as defined by the Police Act, or a death.
• If there is a connection between the serious harm/death and officer action or inaction.
If both conditions are met, the investigation will continue to examine all available evidence to determine what occurred. At the conclusion of the investigation, the chief civilian director of the IIO will consider whether there are reasonable grounds to believe that an offence may have occurred. Charges can be laid against police officers.
The IIO asks that any witnesses who have information regarding this matter to contact the IIO at a witness line, toll-free at 1-855-446-8477, or via the contact form on the iiobc.ca website.