A report by Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit said a Brantford police officer couldn’t have prevented the injuries of a 23-year-old woman who jumped from her balcony March 4.
The woman had multiple fractures and other internal injuries.
The province’s police watchdog said an officer was still knocking at the door of a Brantford apartment when the woman jumped 18.5 meters to the ground.
According to the report, police received a call to check on the well-being of the woman, who had made suicidal comments. It wasn’t the first time Brantford police got such reports about the woman.
In its report, the SIU said two officers went to the apartment building at 11:19 am and talked to the distraught woman from a neighboring apartment. They lost sight of her until a third officer arrived and notified them the woman was on the ground. She had a compound fracture to one of her legs but was conscious.
The SIU, which has a mandate of investigating any interaction by Ontario police officers where there is serious injury, interviewed three civilian witnesses, a family member of the woman and two officers. The officer designated the “subject officer” was not interviewed but provided notes.
Evidence gathered included a note on a desk in the woman’s apartment that was dated Jan. 17 and referenced increased anxiety and depression.
According to the report, an officer was at the woman’s door and heard her crying but she wouldn’t answer the door.
The officer was let into an adjoining apartment that shared a balcony that was divided by a partition. The officer didn’t see the woman on her balcony.
The officer and a second officer went to the woman’s apartment but she had already jumped.
The SIU’s investigation determined there was no criminal negligence on the part of the officer, nor any want of care sufficient to lay criminal charges.
SIU director Joseph Martino said there was “simply no real opportunity for any intervention on the part of the officer.
“He was at her door knocking and calling out to ensure she was OK for a matter of minutes when the complainant decided to jump from the balcony….”
@EXPSGamble