The IIO completed their investigation in 6 months, not 36 which had become their custom. Hopefully this timeline will become their template for future interaction with British Columbia police officers.
Photo courtesy of Unsplash
"RCMP officer who shot activist Dani Cooper...was justified: B.C. police watchdog"
As someone who has taught defensive tactics including defense against a knife wielding suspect, society can not pay police officers any amount to put themselves in harms way unnecessarily.
There is truth to the "21 Foot Rule" which has become controversial particularly as used by defense attornies against officers.
I remember well a training session with the Canadian Forces Military Police where the "assailant" charged me (wearing a Red Man suit) and covered the distance in less than 21 feet. I couldn't have pulled my firearm in time. I disarmed him with hand-to-hand defensive tactics.
The 21 Foot Rule Demonstrated
"The IIO's investigation found the unnamed RCMP officer who shot Cooper twice acted lawfully and justifiably given that Cooper was advancing towards him with a knife, director Ronald MacDonald concluded."
"The report provides the first detailed timeline of the night Cooper died since the IIO began its investigation in November.
Cooper's mother called 911 to the co-op they shared shortly after 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 12, reporting that Cooper had tried to attack her with a knife, according to the report.
She also told the dispatcher that Cooper was experiencing psychosis and had substance use issues. Cooper's family previously told CBC News that Cooper has schizoaffective disorder, which made them unsure of what was real, leaving them feeling scared and threatened. They had struggled to find adequate support to manage the condition and sometimes self-medicated with opioids."
"Two RCMP officers arrived just 12 minutes after Cooper's mother first called 911. Cooper had been kicking a glazed patio door trying to enter the second unit again and appeared to have stabbed themselves with the knife several times in the abdomen, according to the report.
Both officers ordered Cooper to drop the knife, but they did not appear to be processing or to understand the command, witnesses and officers told the IIO.
It was clear they were in a mental health crisis, MacDonald wrote in the report.
One officer tried to taser Cooper, but it did not work because Cooper was wearing a thick jacket, the IIO's analysis concluded.
A third officer arrived and told Cooper they were police and were there to help, shortly after which a fourth and fifth officer arrived.
Officers recall Cooper did not believe them, and said "you're going to kill me," according to the report.
A neighbour witness still on the phone with 911 then heard police yelling loudly as police said Cooper climbed over the patio fence that had separated them from the officers and slowly "shuffled" towards them while holding the knife pointed up in the air.
RCMP moved away from Cooper but became "trapped" by the treeline, which they could not see beyond in the dark.
One officer told the IIO she thought Cooper was going to stab one of the officers, despite them yelling for Cooper to drop the knife.
A second taser was deployed, and 10 seconds later, an officer shot Cooper twice. They had been about 2.75 to 4 metres away from the officer, the report found."
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/dani-cooper-iio-report-no-charges-1.6927643
More on the subject. Vancouver Sun.
Grieving family calls out policeDENISE RYAN
Vancouver Sun
Aug 09, 2023
Hold officers to a higher standard, father of shooting victim urges
The family of a 27-year-old North Vancouver resident who was shot dead by police says it's planning to call for a judicial inquiry after an independent review recommended against charges.
Dani Cooper, a nonbinary poet and social justice activist, was killed by an RCMP officer in November 2022 after suffering a psychotic break.
Their father, Dennis Cooper, is speaking out after a report by B.C.'s Independent Investigation's Office, released Aug. 3, said the IIO will not be recommending charges against the officer who shot and killed his child.
The family is also calling for greater transparency in shootings by officers and better de-escalation training for officers, especially when dealing with mental-health crises.
“One minute and 45 seconds. That's how much time there was between when the officers arrived, and the officer shot Dani,” said Cooper.
“There were no meaningful attempts at de-escalation. One minute and 45 seconds. They did nothing.”
The officer who shot Dani was not compelled to give evidence to the IIO, and provided no notes, reports or data about the killing, according to the report.
In the memorandum of understanding between B.C. police forces and the IIO, the “subject officer” is not required to submit to an interview, to protect them from self-incrimination.
That's not good enough for Cooper.
“Police officers have the same Charter rights as civilians to remain silent. I think that it's wrong. People that carry guns should be held to a higher standard.”
Cooper said the family has been blocked at every turn from obtaining information about the shooting.
On the night of Nov. 12, 2022, Cooper was settling into his seat at a Bryan Adams concert in Rogers Arena when he got a call from Dani's mother. The couple had separated when Dani was 10.
“If she called, I knew it had to be something serious,” he said.
It was. She told him that Dani, who had schizoaffective disorder, had been transported to hospital by EMTs after experiencing mental distress and threatening her with a knife. Dani's mother had no idea an officer had shot and killed Dani outside her home.
“It wasn't until 10 p.m. when the phone rang again that I learned that the police had come and picked my ex-wife up and taken her down to the police station where they then told her that Dani had died.”
The secrecy astounded the family.
“We didn't know where or how — all that information was withheld from us, and left to our imaginations,” said Cooper.
“We went eight months without knowing how many times Danny was shot.”
Eight months of agony, of imagining what could have been done differently may have ended, but for the family, the fight is just beginning.
“People in crisis deserve support and dignity,” said Cooper.
During the incident that night in 2022, Dani approached their mother with a knife while suffering from delusions.
“They were dangerous, no question,” said Cooper.
Dani was also a “truly tiny person,” who weighed just over 100 pounds, and was physically depleted from an opioid use disorder, he said. Dani's mother wrested the knife away, sought refuge with a neighbour and called 911.
She reported during the call that Dani was psychotic and suffering mental health and substance abuse issues.
During this time, Dani picked up a four-inch paring knife, and went door to door in the North Vancouver housing complex looking for their mother. Other neighbours, fearful for their safety, also called 911.
According to the IIO report, when officers arrived, Dani walked toward them with “a shambling shuffle, a small step.” Witnesses described Dani as looking “confused or scared” and “like a deer in headlights.”
Officers attempted to use a Taser on Dani but were unsuccessful due to Dani's thick leather jacket. Ten seconds after the Taser was fired, an officer used a gun to shoot Dani twice.
In a statement, the Pivot Legal Society said it is working with Dani's family, and recommending the creation of “a continuum of response to mental health, addictions and other complex social issues with a focus on prevention and community-led responses.”
The society is also asking for the establishment of an “independent, civilian-led oversight agency responsible for overseeing conduct, complaints, investigations, and disciplinary matters for all police and public safety personnel with powers or authority under the new Community Safety and Policing Act.”
I've listened to defense lawyers manipulate reality and prosecutors unfamiliar with the Rule not cross-examing successfully.
Every officer is justified drawing their service pistol immediately when threatened with a suspect with a knife.