RCMP public complaint commission monitoring case of 11-year-old Tasered by RCMP

The RCMP public complaints commission says it is closely monitoring the case of an 11-year-old British Columbia boy shocked with an RCMP Taser during his arrest last week.

A spokesman for the commission said Monday that the office has not received an official complaint about the case, but said the age of the boy merits special attention.

“The commission has requested further information surrounding the handling of this incident,” Jamie Robertson said.

“The commission has previously expressed caution on the use of Tasers against at-risk populations.”

West Vancouver police have been called in to investigate the incident, and the commission will wait for that report before deciding what follow-up action is required, Robertson said. The commission chairman can choose to initiate an investigation even in the absence of a complaint, he said.

RCMP said officers were responding to a 911 call around 5:30 p.m. last Thursday. They found a 37-year-old man had been stabbed, and began a search for an 11-year-old suspect who they located at a neighbouring property.

“Efforts were made to get the individual out of the house, and when he emerged from the home a conducted energy weapon was deployed by a member,” Supt. Brenda Butterworth-Carr said in a statement issued last Friday.

She said the boy was taken to hospital for an assessment. The victim of the stabbing was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries.

The RCMP have not commented further on why the officer used the Taser on the boy, who is in government care and was living in a group home.

The children’s watchdog in British Columbia said Monday she was also leaning toward investigating the decision to use the shock weapon, after media reports revealed the stabbing took place at a group home.

Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond said she would consider the emotional and physical injuries the boy suffered when he was stunned by police.

“This is a very invisible child,” Turpel-Lafond said. “This child doesn’t necessarily have a voice. There isn’t a parent speaking for this child.”

A group home can have certain restrictions including when children can eat or use the phone and she’s concerned about the effects of such policies on a young child, she said.

Turpel-Lafond said she’s not pleased that a child as young as 11 was placed in a group home to begin with, and that a therapeutic foster home may well have been a better arrangement for him.

“In this particular instance, there’s a high degree of responsibility in terms of public accountability because the caregiver, which is the Ministry of Children and Families’ group home, has called in the police. So it’s a very high degree of concern I have in terms of the sequence of events here.”

Turpel-Lafond said she will carefully look at issues such as whether staff at the group home were trained to deal with conflict.

“Is the training, say, call the police and let four officers respond in this fashion?

“These situations do not just suddenly arise out of the blue. That’s one thing I’m quite confident to say.”

Two officers from the West Vancouver Police Department were in Prince George on Monday, their investigation under way.

Sgt. Paul Skelton said the department is sensitive to criticism that police are investigating police instead of an independent body conducting such a probe.

“That’s the framework that exists in this province and if the solicitor general makes amendments to the Police Act that allows other forms of investigation we’d certainly support that. But at this time, that’s what in play.”

Children’s Ministry spokesman Darren Harbord said staff are co-operating with police during the investigation but he can’t comment on the ministry’s role until after the probe has been completed.

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