Inquest report into fatal shooting by Winnipeg police recommends changes in use-of-force training
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A Manitoba judge recommends in an inquest report into a fatal shooting by Winnipeg police that changes to use-of-force training be considered to better reflect the unique experiences of Indigenous peoples and people in crisis.
Provincial court Judge Anne Krahn released her 80-page inquest report Thursday into the “undeniably tragic” death of Stewart Andrews in 2020. The report includes 14 recommendations.
“My hope is that some of the recommendations in this report are improvements and small steps to re-build the loss of trust that results from the circumstances in this death,” Krahn wrote.
Andrews, a 22-year-old father, was fatally shot in the Maples area of north Winnipeg on April 18, 2020, during a confrontation with two officers and a police dog in a back lane.
During that encounter, he moved quickly at an officer with a metal bar raised over his head, indicating he was going to swing at the officer, the report said.
Police were responding to a report of an armed robbery in the area, as a man who was taking out garbage was approached by two men. One was armed with a firearm, which turned out to be a BB gun, and another — believed to be Andrews — had a long metal rod.
Andrews was the third Indigenous person fatally shot by Winnipeg police over a 10-day-period in April 2020. The others were 16-year-old Eishia Hudson and 36-year-old Jason Collins.
Under provincial law, an inquest is required whenever a person dies because of a police officer’s on-duty use of force.
Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, an organization that represents 33 southern Manitoba First Nations, was granted standing at the inquest. The organization referred to the use-of-force model taught to police, which Krahn acknowledged is the same for every officer, as “colour-blind.”
Provincial court Judge Anne Krahn called Andrews’s death ‘undeniably tragic.’ (Submitted by Alexcia Andrews)
MKO pointed out that approach “fails to recognize the collective experience of Indigenous people who have seen the police used to take their children to residential schools or assist child welfare authorities or the loss of life when involved with the police,” Krahn wrote.
As was noted by the police witnesses who testified in the inquest, officers receive mandatory training on implicit bias and Indigenous cultural awareness, but Krahn questioned how this training is being applied in reality.
“In my view, the question is what and how officers are incorporating this training into the use of force, in the field,” the judge wrote.
“Based on the answers by witnesses to the questions posed by MKO, I do not think the principles taught in those courses are being easily translated to the reality of what police officers are required to do in the field.”
The judge recommended that, in collaboration with MKO, Winnipeg police explore if and how use-of-force training could incorporate the “unique experience” of Indigenous peoples and “how those experiences might inform risk assessments and tactical considerations.”
The judge also recommended that police and MKO explore “how unconscious or implicit bias related to race may influence officer risk assessments,” including an assessment of the feasibility of countering these biases through “reality-based training.”
May have feared dog: family
Another recommendation was that the Winnipeg Police Service’s use-of-force model be reviewed and revised to expand police considerations when de-escalating a situation with someone experiencing a mental health crisis.
Some police agencies recognize indicators of mental health crisis as symptoms rather than threats to officer safety and acknowledge that many mental health calls “result from crisis symptoms rather than criminal behaviour,” the judge wrote.
Andrews’s family argued he was trying to protect himself by swinging the metal bar at a “menacing police dog” and that he might have had a fear of dogs because he was from a northern First Nation where dogs are known to “run wild.”
The dog was released to apprehend Andrews but pulled back when he swung the bar over the dog’s head, the inquest heard.
After that, Andrews turned to move quickly toward the officer who shot him. That’s when the incident turned fatal, the report said.
The dog’s involvement was a key issue that served as the basis for Krahn’s recommendation that the police service explicitly outline the priorities of life in a use-of-force situation.
“I see value in ensuring it is clear that human life is valued over the life of the police dog,” the judge wrote.
Other recommendations include greater collaboration between the police service and Indigenous communities on education and training about urban policing, that a plan be developed to reduce delays in inquests, and that training documents be written about the concept of police dogs as a use-of-force tool.
The report also recommended that the police service continue to advocate for the implementation of body cameras.
The Winnipeg Police Service said in an email statement on Friday that it is reviewing the report and its recommendations.
