Windspeaker Briefs - March

THE THUNDER BAY POLICE SERVICE
held a news conference on Feb. 23 to provide an update on the case of missing 15-year-old Jordan Wabasse who was last seen exiting a city bus near Mary Street and Holt Place around 10 p.m. on Feb. 7. Thunder Bay Police had found a cap in the Kaministiquia River on Feb. 15. Service Insp. Andy Hay said it was sent to a Sault Ste. Marie lab for testing. Police won’t know the results of those tests for several weeks. The OPP will wait until the spring before they attempt another underwater search, but city police will continue to look in the area of the James Street swing bridge.† City police, the OPP and volunteers searched the Mary Street and Holt Place area on Feb. 12, but found no clues. The searched moved to the partially frozen Kaministiquia River following a tip. A few days later, the OPP diving team retrieved a baseball cap that matched the description given of one worn by Jordan at the time of his disappearance. After three days in the water, police called off their underwater search. But by land and air the search continued. Anishnawbek Police Service officers and volunteers from the Fort William First Nation began a snowmobile search of wooded land behind a busy gas bar on City Road. An OPP helicopter arrived from southern Ontario two days later to aid in the search, but no new evidence was discovered.

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THE NUU-CHAH-NULTH TRIBAL COUNCIL
wants the Seattle Police Department and a former police officer held accountable for the shooting death of John T. Williams, a carver with roots in Ditidaht First Nation on Vancouver Island. Tribal Council Vice-President Priscilla Sabbas-Watts said she was shocked to learn on Feb. 16 that the King County Prosecutor’s office would not bring charges against Seattle Police Officer Ian Birk, 27, who fatally shot Williams on Aug. 30, 2010. Williams was making his way along a busy downtown street when the police officer noticed him.† Birk fired his weapon within a few seconds of calling to Williams to drop the knife he was using to carve a block of wood. “This decision is hugely significant to us, with so many Nuu-chah-nulth people living in Seattle,” said Sabbas-Watts. “Birk and the Seattle Police Department must be held accountable.”

The King County Prosecutor claims that Washington law gives police officers an added level of protection against criminal liability in such cases, unless it can be proved that an officer acts with malice or in bad faith. The Seattle Police Department’s Firearms Review Board, however, concluded that Birk’s shooting of Williams was not justified. Sabbas-Watts said there is a clear disconnect between the prosecutor’s conclusions of the shooting and those of the Seattle Police. “Ian Birk did not act in good faith when he engaged John T. Williams,” said Sabbas-Watts. “John was visibly a carver. He was carrying a legal knife and a block of wood. He was not menacing; not threatening the public in any way. So why was Birk so quick to fire five shots from his gun?”

Sabbas-Watts said Birk violated the policies and procedures set out by his own department and shouldn’t get “a pass,” just because he is a police officer. Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs said he “shares the disbelief, disgust and deep disappointment of the Williams family, the Ditidaht First Nation and the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council. He called for systemic change for policing. It appears that quite a number of critical police incidents resulting in death or serious bodily harm involve young and inexperienced officers. More and more, the general public want officers who exercise poor judgment and abusive misconduct to stop hiding behind the badge and the mythology of the good guy and stand before the law like everyone else.”

Phillip said it was too easy to say such officers “went rogue” or to paint them as bad apples. Instead they are a reflection of modern-day policing where funding for pre-screening and training are growing scarce. Birk has resigned from the police service under threat of discipline.

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THE CENTRE FOR ADDICTION AND MENTAL
Health launched Canada’s first mobile research laboratory on Feb. 22 to study mental health and addictions in communities across Ontario. The mobile lab will allow researchers to reach underserved populations in rural, remote and First Nations communities to help improve prevention and treatment services. “The mobile research lab fills a gap by bringing world-class research by epidemiologists, psychiatrists, neuroscientists and social scientists to communities that are far from research centres,” said Dr. Bruce G. Pollock, the centre’s Vice-President of Research. “The results will be shared with local health and social service agencies, enabling them to improve service delivery.” Researchers are targeting Ontario communities that are less advantaged due to higher unemployment or poverty rates, among other factors. Among the series of studies planned, one line of research will tease out the complex interactions between a person’s genes and problems in the community, which may put people at risk for mood and anxiety disorders, substance abuse and violence. The lab will be used to conduct interviews and surveys, run focus groups, and take hair, saliva or blood samples to measure stress or obtain genetic information.