2009 : YEAR IN REVIEW

WELCOME MESSAGE

To effectively, independently and objectively investigate incidents involving Alberta’s police that have

resulted in serious injury or death to any person as well as sensitive allegations of police misconduct

To enhance public confidence and ensure accountability in the investigation

of serious or sensitive incidents involving Alberta’s police

Integrity, Independence, Investigative Excellence, Respect, Trust and Professionalism

MISSION

VISION

VALUES

It has been my privilege to serve as the Executive Director of the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team

(ASIRT) for the last two years. I am proud of the contribution each member of ASIRT has made to policing

in the province of Alberta. This year has provided us with a great opportunity to add value to the policing

framework within Alberta and I am very satisfied with the level of investigative excellence that we provide

to the people of Alberta.

We will continue to work at earning the trust of the citizens of Alberta and it is my personal goal to ensure

that we continue delivering on our mandate which is to provide objective investigations and increase the

public’s confidence in policing. As the civilian in charge of this independent investigative agency and

speaking for the men and women serving in it, we continue to be committed in seeking the truth,

and being accountable to the people of Alberta.

Clifton G. Purvis

Executive Director

1

WELCOME MESSAGE

• In 2009, ASIRT was assigned 32 files

• The majority of files occurred in and around the major centres, Edmonton and Calgary

• 38% of the files were classified as sensitive files

• Following sensitive files, sexual assaults and in-custody injury made up the next biggest portion

of files (35% inclusive)

• ASIRT was the primary investigating agency on 29 of the 32 files assigned

• ASIRT has concluded 26 of the 32 files1

• Five additional files are investigatively complete and are waiting for a decision from the

Executive Director and/or an opinion from Alberta Justice

• Five of the concluded files have resulted in charges

• In November of 2009 ASIRT added four Contract Investigators as a pilot project, bringing our total

human investigative resources to 16

2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

4 The Investigative Process

6 Cases Investigated

10 Summary of Concluded Files

14 Staffing

15 Looking Ahead

16 End Notes

17 Contact 3

TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE INVESTIGATIVE PROCESS

WHAT ASIRT INVESTIGATES

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team, commonly referred to as ASIRT, has jurisdiction over all sworn police officers

in the Province of Alberta. ASIRT is governed by Section 46.1 of Alberta’s Police Act and is considered a law enforcement

agency under the Act. Their mandate is to investigate incidents or complaints involving serious injury or death of any person,

and matters of a serious or sensitive nature, within the province of Alberta, that may have resulted from the actions of a

police officer.

A serious injury is defined when an Affected Person(s) is admitted to the hospital with injuries consistent with a fracture to a

limb, rib or vertebrae or to the skull, burns to a major portion of the body, a loss of any portion of the body, and/or when a victim

suffers loss of vision or hearing. ASIRT may also investigate sexual assaults where the alleged offender is a police officer.

While there is currently no working definition of what constitutes a sensitive file, it is up to the agency involved to report any

incidents that they deem may be sensitive and/or serious in nature. In general sensitive or serious files could involve corrupt

or criminal behaviour on the part of police or where the conduct of an officer may affect public confidence in policing.

HOW ASIRT IS ASSIGNED A FILE

Under Section 46.1 of Alberta’s Police Act, a notification is made from the police service’s Chief of Police or Commanding

Officer to the Director of Law Enforcement on any matter that is deemed sensitive or serious. Upon review of the

notification, the Director of Law Enforcement2 has four options to direct the investigation:

4

THE INVESTIGATIVE PROCESS

1 Request or direct that another police service provide a police officer to assist and advise the police service investigating

the incident or complaint,

2 Request or direct another police service to conduct an investigation into the incident or complaint, which may include

taking over an ongoing investigation at any stage,

3 Appoint one or more members of the public as overseers to observe, monitor or review an investigation to ensure the

integrity of the process of the investigation, or,

4 In accordance with Section 46.2, direct the head of an integrated investigative unit to conduct an investigation into the

incident or complaint, which may include taking over an ongoing investigation at any stage3.

In the event that the Director of Law Enforcement chooses to assign the investigation to ASIRT, as mentioned above

in option 4, a notification is then made to the Executive Director of ASIRT. The Executive Director of ASIRT notifies the

respective Team Commander (South or North region) to initiate the commencement of ASIRT’s involvement.

THE ROLE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Once a file has been completed by the ASIRT investigative team, the Executive Director will receive and review the

investigation. Upon review of the file, the Executive Director may forward the file to Alberta Justice for further review and

opinion. This only occurs in those cases where the Executive Director believes on reasonable suspicion, that an offence has

been committed. In the event that the Executive Director does not believe that there is a reasonable suspicion of an offence

having been committed, the director will conclude the file without requesting an opinion from Alberta Justice.

5

CASES INVESTIGATED IN

NOTIFICATIONS VS. FILES

Under Section 46.1 of the Police Act there were 99 notifications made to the Director of Law Enforcement in 2009,

32 of which were assigned to ASIRT. The decision to forward a file to ASIRT rests with the Director of Law Enforcement.

Since, the Director of Law Enforcement has many options when a notification is made, he/she will not, as mentioned

previously, always assign ASIRT the file. In addition, some of the notifications do not meet the requirements of sensitive

or serious as outlined in Section 46.1 and thus ASIRT has no authority to investigate.

FILES BY TYPE

The types of files ASIRT investigates, reviews and/or oversees includes the following: Sensitive Allegations, Sexual

Assaults, Vehicle Injury/Death, In-Custody Injury/Death, Firearm Injury/Death and Police Service Dog (PSD) Injury.

Below is a diagram that depicts the types of files ASIRT investigated, reviewed or oversaw during 2009.

ASIRT ASSIGNED CASES BY TYPE

A B C D E F G H

A 38% SENSITIVE ALLEGATION

B 22% IN-CUSTODY INJURY

C 13% SEXUAL ASSAULT

D 9% FIREARM DEATH

E 6% VEHICLE INJURY

F 6% VEHICLE DEATH

G 3% IN-CUSTODY DEATH

H 3% OTHER

6

CASES INVESTIGATED IN

FILES BY CENSUS DIVISION

FILES BY LOCATION

The map below displays the number of files that ASIRT received in 2009 by region. The map clearly demonstrates that the

majority of files occurred in and around the major centres, Edmonton and Calgary.

GRANDE PRAIRIE

EDMONTON

RED DEER

CALGARY

MEDICINE HAT

LETHBRIDGE

0

1

2

3-13

7

FILES BY POLICE SERVICE

ASIRT has jurisdiction over all of Alberta’s policing agencies, including the RCMP. The following is the breakdown of files

by agency for 2009.

0 2 4 6 8 10 12

ASIRT ASSIGNED CASES BY AGENCYJANUARY 01 TO DECEMBER 31, 2009

RCMP

CALGARY POLICE SERVICE

EDMONTON POLICE SERVICE

LETHBRIDGE POLICE SERVICE

MEDICINE HAT POLICE SERVICE

FIRST NATIONS POLICE SERVICE

OTHER*

*These are smaller Police Services within Alberta. Examples include: Camrose, Lacombe and Taber.

12

6

9

1

1

1

2

8

FILES BY ASIRT INVOLVEMENT

ASIRT was the primary investigating agency on 29 of the 32 files assigned. ASIRT acted in an oversight capacity on one of

the files and acted as a reviewer on the remaining two.

FILE STATUS

In 2009, ASIRT concluded 26 files4. Five additional files are investigatively complete and are waiting for a decision either

from Alberta Justice or the Executive Director. Five of the 26 concluded files have resulted in charges, some of which are

still before the courts. One file is still actively being investigated.

9

SUMMARY OF CONCLUDED FILES

The following summaries are a sample of the types of files that the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team investigated

in 2009.

1 : ASSIGNMENT DATE 2009 MARCH 18 : Calgary Police Service – Firearm Death (FILE 09-009)

ASIRT Role – Primary Investigative Team

On March 18th, 2009, the Calgary Police Service’s High Enforcement Auto Theft Team had conducted approximately

six hours of surveillance of a suspect involved in a series of thefts. Surveillance identified a 38-year-old male operating a

stolen vehicle. An attempt was made to arrest the individual in a carwash bay in Calgary. Members of the Calgary Police

Service attempted to detain the suspect in the wash bay by placing their police vehicles at the entrance and exit overhead

doors. In an attempt to evade arrest, the male suspect attempted to ram his way through the closed overhead doors and

at the police vehicles that were positioned to block his exit. During the repeated attempts by the male to ram the police

vehicles, one Calgary Police Service member was knocked to the ground but was uninjured. A Sergeant in charge of the

team fired his police service pistol at the rapidly accelerating car, striking the male operating the stolen car. This individual

died as a result of the injuries he received.

After a review of the investigation conducted by ASIRT, the Executive Director forwarded ASIRT’s investigation to

Alberta Justice for review. The Executive Director, after having received the opinion of Alberta Justice and after having

reviewed the completed investigative report, concluded the file with no criminal charges.

10

SUMMARY OF CONCLUDED FILES

2 : ASSIGNMENT DATE 2009 APRIL 09 : Calgary Police Service – Sensitive (FILE 09-010) ASIRT Role – Primary Investigative Team

ASIRT began an investigation following a complaint against a Calgary Police Service officer. The Alberta Integrated Child

Exploitation (ICE) Unit assisted in ASIRT’s two-month long investigation. It was alleged that the subject officer sent sexually

explicit messages and photos via social networking sites to under aged females. The officer, having served two and

a half years with the Calgary Police Service, was subsequently arrested following ASIRT’s investigation.

The subject officer pled guilty to luring a child under the age of 18 (Criminal Code Section 172.1(1) (A)). The subject

officer received a conditional sentence.

3 : ASSIGNMENT DATE 2009 MAY 06 : RCMP – Use of Force Death (File 09-013) ASIRT Role – Primary Investigative Team

On May 6th, 2009, members of the RCMP dealt with an individual who had been reportedly attempting to force his way

into a residence in the city of Brooks, Alberta. Two members of the RCMP arrived at the location and attempted to arrest a

40-year-old male. During the course of the arrest, the male struggled with the responding police officers and a Conducted

Energy Device (Taser) was deployed. Three more members of the RCMP arrived and the male was taken into custody.

While being taken into custody, the male went into medical distress. He was transported to hospital where he later died.

After a review of the investigation conducted by ASIRT, the Executive Director concluded that the Taser did not play

a role in the death of this individual. Further, the Executive Director determined that the actions of the police who were

involved in this incident were justified in law. This file was concluded without charges.

11

1

4 : ASSIGNMENT DATE 2009 MAY 29 : Calgary Police Service – Serious Injury (FILE 09-017) ASIRT Role – Primary Investigative Team

On May 29th, 2009, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team received a complaint of possible corruption. It was

alleged that a member of the Edmonton Police Commission attempted to have a traffic violation summons cancelled by

the issuing officer. Further, it was alleged that the violation summons was quashed by an individual in the Edmonton Police

Service. An independent investigation into this allegation was conducted.

After reviewing the concluded investigative report, the Executive Director was satisfied that this allegation arose out

of a rumor and had no basis in fact. Therefore, there are no reasonable and probable grounds to suspect that any criminal

offence was committed in relation to this allegation. The matter was concluded without charges.

5 : ASSIGNMENT DATE 2009 NOVEMBER 12 : Calgary Police Service – Death (FILE 09-025) ASIRT Role – Primary Investigative Team

In the late evening hours of November 11th, 2009, the Calgary Police Service attended a residential location in Calgary

as a result of a 911 call indicating a male intended to commit suicide. After having established a perimeter around the

residence, police determined the male was alone in the residence and was indeed intent on committing suicide. Police

negotiators communicated with the male in an attempt to have him peacefully surrender. After approximately seven hours

of negotiation, it became apparent that the male remained focused on committing suicide. Members of the Calgary Police

Service entered the home in an attempt to rescue the male; however, these efforts tragically failed. As members of the

Calgary Police Service entered the home, the male committed suicide.

12

Upon conclusion of ASIRT’s investigation, the Executive Director has determined that no member of the Calgary Police

Service committed any criminal offence in relation to this incident. Further, the Executive Director has determined that the

members of the Calgary Police Service involved in this incident acted lawfully when they attempted to rescue the suicidal

male after a prolonged negotiation with him proved unsuccessful.

6 : ASSIGNMENT DATE 2009 NOVEMBER 19 : RCMP – Motor Vehicle Death (FILE 09-026) ASIRT Role – Primary Investigative Team

On November 19th, 2009 an individual was operating a stolen van at a high rate of speed eastbound on Highway 16

near Hinton. As the vehicle entered the town of Hinton, uniformed members of the RCMP operating marked police vehicles

attempted to stop the vehicle. At that point, the suspect vehicle crossed the centre line and headed eastbound in the

westbound lane of Highway 16. The vehicle then crossed back into the eastbound lanes continuing to travel at a high rate

of speed. After approximately 1.5 km, the vehicle crossed back into the oncoming lanes of traffic. During this period, the

vehicle reached speeds of approximately 180 km/hr. The vehicle then struck another motor vehicle head-on, instantly killing

both drivers.

After a review of the investigation conducted by ASIRT, the Executive Director did not have a reasonable suspicion that

the police officers involved committed a criminal offence. Further, the Executive Director concluded that the police involved

were acting lawfully and were justified in their actions. As such, the file was concluded without charges.

13

ASIRT has a total of 24 positions. These positions are made up of Government Employees and Seconded members from

the Calgary Police Service, the Edmonton Police Service, and the RCMP.

There are two Administrative Support positions, two Criminal Intelligence Analyst positions, four Contract Investigators,

12 full-time Investigator positions, two Team Leader positions, one Assistant Director position and one Executive Director

position. The following charts describe ASIRT’s human resource by strength and by type.

STAFFING LEVELS

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

STAFFING LEVELS BY JOB DESCRIPTION

QUARTER

75%

83%

79%

96%

ADMINISTRATIVE

ANALYTICAL

INVESTIGATORS

TEAM LEADERS

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

DIRECTOR

CONTRACT INVESTIGATORS

14

In 2009, ASIRT continued to grow as a Civilian Police Oversight Agency. With the addition of Contract Investigators in 2009,

ASIRT provides even greater independent and timely services to the citizens of Alberta. This pilot project has allowed for

a more balanced approach to ASIRT’s staffing, equalizing the number of sworn members to civilian members. We hope to

continue this pilot project in the coming years.

ASIRT strives not only for superior investigations, but it also strives to complete those investigations in a timely manner.

In 2010, in addition to the Contract Investigators, ASIRT will gain two more administrative positions to ensure timely,

independent and professional investigations.

In 2009 ASIRT continued to develop better relationships with our various stakeholders. In the future we hope to further

these relationships by evaluating our communications with the public, police, civil liberties associations, and other

government officials. This self audit will identify areas of success and weakness, generating new ideas to assist ASIRT in

providing integrity within policing.

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team continues to respond to serious and sensitive complaints concerning Alberta’s

police by conducting independent and thorough investigations. As an independent civilian led police oversight body, ASIRT

is committed to excellence in investigations.

15

1 This figure is based on the information obtained at the conclusion of writing this report in October 2010.

2 The Director of Law Enforcement in Alberta is a public employee appointed to the Alberta Government’s Solicitor General

and Public Security Ministry.

3 Direct quote from The Alberta Police Act Section 46.1.

4 This figure is based on the information obtained at the conclusion of writing this report in October 2010.

18

Alberta Serious Response Team – South Office

403-592-4306

Alberta Serious Response Team – North Office

780-644-1483

Prepared By:

H. Glenn, Criminal Intelligence Analyst, ASIRT

October 27, 2010