An independent police watchdog agency has agreed with a Brantford family who was the target of a botched ‘no-knock’ drug raid in 2022 that some protocols of Brantford Police need to be changed.
And, the report of the Independent Police Review Director, Stephen Leach, alleges there are reasonable grounds to believe two Brantford officers neglected their duty.
“(The family) is pleased,” said lawyer Mike Smitiuch, who helped Shauna McDonald through the process of making the complaint to the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD).
“What the family hoped to achieve has been done and it’s now up to (Chief Rob Davis) to review this and determine what course of action to take.”
McDonald and her partner and two children, were in their Wellington Street apartment on Sept. 8, 2020 when the unlocked door was rammed open and a flash grenade tossed in, according to the report.
A group of tactical officers rushed in, ordering them to the ground, and the adults were handcuffed. The couple’s children, seven and 13 were separated from the parents.
It was later discovered that officers, who entered the two-building apartment complex from the underground parking garage, had meant to go to the Darling Street building and had inadvertently taken the unmarked stairs to the wrong part of the complex.
Just a month later, officers performed another no-knock entry at a home on Grand River Avenue where they had received a false report about a woman being held hostage.
Neither the homeowner nor her mother were home at the time and, while they were grateful for the police concern about their well-being, they worried about how the raid could have turned out if they had been in the house.
A few weeks later, OIPRD issued a directive to police services across Ontario to re-examine their procedures for no-knock or dynamic entries to try and ensure errors, such as the apartment confusion, are prevented.
“The family is pleased that issue will get a closer look,” said Smitiuch.
“They don’t what what happened to them to happen to anyone else.”
Because OIPRD has found two of the officers may have neglected their duty to ensure the raid was conducted safely, Chief Davis is left with several options.
He can call for a disciplinary hearing, try to resolve the complaint informally, or declare a disposition of the situation without a hearing.
Davis declined to speak about the issue this week, saying the OIPRD process is ongoing, but previously said he welcomed the review on dynamic entries.
“I applaud Director Leach for his courage and leadership in spearheading the review,” Davis said last November.
“Hopefully, this will lead to all police services being more consistent in our approach.”
Such notifications for review to all police services are rare.
OIPRD issued a similar notification letter about strip searches in 2019 resulting in many services revising their policies, procedures and training.
Spokesperson Robin Matthews-Osmond said in an email that Brantford police consistently review and revise policies and training so they are following current case-law and the best policing policies.
“There are always opportunities to learn and improve operations and how we serve the public,” she said.
“The Brantford Police Service would like to assure residents that our members are actively committed to protecting the rights of all persons and strive to demonstrate the highest possible degree of personal and professional integrity in the performance of duties.”
Smitiuch said he believes both the family and the public will be interested in how Davis handles the allegations against two sergeants for neglect of duty.
“First and foremost, we fully understand that police have an important job in keeping the public safe and by no means was this done in a malicious manner.
“It was a bad mistake.”
The lawyer said he’s not sure that disciplining the officers is “the result the family is looking for” but hopes the review of policies and training will ensure all such situations are prevented in the future.
“What happened in this case drives home the point of how dangerous no-knock warrants are and how carefully they have to be executed.”
Smitiuch also represents the family of Rodger Kotanko who was shot and killed during a no-knock raid at Kotanko’s Simcoe gun shop.
That case is in the midst of the discovery stage of a $23-million civil lawsuit against the Toronto Police Services Board.
Smitiuch said McDonald and her partner have no current plans to sue the Brantford Police for the flawed raid.
“The family is still digesting the OIPRD report and waiting to see what action the chief will take. Then they will assess where things stand and determine if a lawsuit is needed or not.”
@EXPSGamble
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