Quebec’s public safety minister says he’s open to publicly releasing the experiences by the province’s impartial police watchdog, as is the case with police oversight our bodies in different provinces.
Ian Lafrenière, himself a former police officer, was questioned on the matter Thursday, the day after Quebec’s watchdog submitted its report back to the prosecutor’s workplace in regards to the police taking pictures of a 15-year-old boy final September on Montreal’s South Shore.
Lafrenière informed reporters he would “look into” whether or not to launch these experiences, however he mentioned doing so would elevate different points.
To extend transparency in policing, he mentioned, the Quebec authorities created the watchdog — Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes, or BEI — in 2016. It investigates instances wherein a civilian is critically injured or killed by police.
“So, is there a necessity to extend transparency? I’ll look into it,” he mentioned. However he added that these experiences would seemingly be considerably redacted.
“If we submit a report that has been largely redacted, it would elevate points,” he mentioned.
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The police oversight physique in Quebec is the one one in Canada that doesn’t make its investigation experiences public, in accordance with a briefing doc submitted in 2021 to a policing reform committee by Quebec’s skilled order of journalists. “Equal our bodies in Ontario, British Columbia, Manitoba, and Nova Scotia all publish complete summaries of their investigations, with sure data anonymized.”
The skilled physique representing journalists mentioned the shortage of public experiences “critically undermines” belief within the police and within the BEI itself.
The watchdog’s report into the Sept. 21 taking pictures of Nooran Rezayi is with prosecutors, who will resolve whether or not there may be sufficient proof to cost the officer who shot and killed {the teenager}.
Rezayi was killed by Longueuil police after they responded to a 911 name a couple of group of allegedly armed youth in a residential neighbourhood. The BEI has mentioned the one gun seized on the scene belonged to the officer who shot the teenager. Police did seize a baseball bat, a backpack and ski masks, however no sharp-edged weapons.
Lafrenière has additionally mentioned his division would examine allegations Longueuil police acted inappropriately within the aftermath of the taking pictures. These allegations surfaced after Longueuil Mayor Catherine Fournier launched correspondence between the BEI and Longueuil’s police chief in regards to the taking pictures.
Within the paperwork, BEI director Brigitte Bishop criticizes police for ready too lengthy — 1 hour and 36 minutes — to tell the oversight company about Rezayi’s taking pictures. As properly, Bishop reveals cops interviewed witnesses and tried to gather video footage after the taking pictures, with Bishop stating bluntly that the Longueuil police shouldn’t have investigated the taking pictures demise of a civilian by the hands of its personal officers.
Lafrenière mentioned he was ready for prosecutors to substantiate that they’d all the data they wanted earlier than launching his division’s investigation. “Usually, throughout an investigation, they could request extra data. The very last thing I need to do by speeding an administrative inquiry is to intrude with that course of.”
“So, as quickly because it’s confirmed, we’ll conduct an administrative inquiry to find out what led to the initiation of the investigation.”
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