Racism needs to be considered in investigations

The chair of the Alberta Aboriginal Commission on Human Rights and Justice is pushing for a meeting with the head of the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team following a spate of RCMP-involved shootings of Aboriginal men. Two of the three incidences in August resulted in deaths.

“A letter will be sent to them … regarding our concerns that when they consider and are studying these incidents by the police that they consider that racism might be a motivation or an important factor in how the police respond,” said Commission Chair Muriel Stanley Venne.

On Aug. 3, a traffic stop by a Wetaskiwin RCMP officer working alone near Pigeon Lake resulted in the shooting death of Lance Cutarm, 30. His brother, Larron Cutarm, 41, was injured in the incident. There were three other men in the vehicle.

On Aug. 15, RCMP officers shot and killed a 52-year-old man, the subject of an arrest warrant, after a confrontation developed at the man’s home on Cold Lake First Nation.

On Aug. 1, Curtis Hallock, 28, was pulled over by two RCMP officers near Grande Cache. A confrontation ensued and Hallock was shot three times. He fled on foot but was apprehended and taken to hospital. Hallock is a former co-star of the reality show Mantracker.

All incidents are under investigation by ASIRT, confirmed spokesperson Sarah Jackson.

“Investigations are ongoing.  ASIRT does not run on timelines. We run on conducting thorough, independent and objective investigations. It (could) take anywhere from months to a year, or a little over a year. It depends on the investigation,” she said.

ASIRT’s mandate is to examine the actions of police officers that result in serious injuries or death. Jackson says witnesses at the incidents will be interviewed, as well as expert witnesses. Police cars often have cameras and those will be viewed as well.

Stanley Venne wants motivation examined. She says Aboriginal men are often the target of police-related serious incidents.
“Just from our experience, our knowledge of the way Aboriginal people generally are treated and in regards to Aboriginal men, they are guilty. The racism that pervades our society is so pervasive … and without exception, racism is evident in all of our institutions, whether they be school, hospital, whatever,” she said.

The letter from the commission is addressed to ASIRT executive director Clifton Purvis and states, in part, “The unresolved recognition of the worth of Aboriginal peoples still exist (and because of this), the use of firearms in these killings undoubtedly influence the conduct of many police officers.”

Stanley Venne is also concerned that members of the ASIRT team “appear to be ex-police officers, all white.”

She holds that ex-police officers investigating police officers is “a good thing” because those doing the investigation would be experts in their field.  What concerns her is the lack of Aboriginal representation.

“There is no balance. The issue of why things were done. Any board that’s considering such incredibly serious life and death situations, should be balanced,” said Stanley Venne.

In a recent interview with Windspeaker, Assembly of First Nations’ justice spokesman, Alberta Regional Chief Cameron Alexis, suggested an RCMP oversight body that would review any deadly incident involving Aboriginal people, on top of other investigatory mechanisms already in place. He also suggested increased funding for independent First Nation policing services for communities who choose them. But any change must address the “full spectrum” of justice, including courts and corrections.
“The use of lethal force needs to be looked at seriously,” said Alexis. “My goodness, situations like this really affect the whole of Aboriginal-police relations.”

Stanley Venne says the establishment of an Aboriginal investigations unit, similar to what the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations has, should be considered. The FSIN’s Special Investigations Unit in part “review(s) the content of any provincial or federal public complaints bodies First Nation citizen investigation file where an allegation of misconduct or negligence with respect to the public complaint investigation or the investigator is being identified,” according to the FSIN website.

“They have really good reason to have a Special Investigations Unit because of the bad conduct of the police in Saskatchewan. I believe it’s the same in Alberta, it’s just that we haven’t had the kind of aggressive response we should have had,” said Stanley Venne.

While the latest shootings are unusual in their close occurrences, she holds that it only underscores growing concerns.

“There’s certainly been, from time to time, and kind of viewed, as quote ‘isolated incidents’ but I believe that it’s more than isolated. It’s pervasive in our society that Aboriginal men are good targets,” said Stanley Venne.