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Police watchdog clears Mounties of wrongdoing in death of Princeton man

Incident occurred March 13, 2021
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(Black Press file photo)

The chief civilian director of the Independent Investigations Office (IIO) of B.C. has cleared Mounties of any wrongdoing in the death of a man in rural Princeton back in March.

On March 13, at around 6 p.m., police responded to a home in the 2000 block of the Princeton-Summerland Road, following a call for assistance.

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Once on scene, officers found a man and two women at the home. The man had sustained a self-inflicted injury, which resulted in his death.

The IIO was called in to investigate the matter as police had recently interacted with the man before his death, as a result of concerns for his welfare.

All evidence, including an audio-recorded statement the man provided to police earlier the same day, was reviewed and confirms that at no point did the man exhibit any behaviour which would have caused police to believe he was a danger to himself, the Independent Investigations Office stated.

The chief civilian director has reviewed the available evidence and determined that there was no negligence on the part of the officers involved, and their actions were reasonable in the circumstances. The investigation is now concluded.

The Independent Investigations Office is the independent civilian oversight agency of the police in British Columbia. It investigates all officer-related incidents that result in serious harm or death, whether or not there is any allegation of wrongdoing.

The Independent Investigations Office added that help is available for those in crisis. Call 310-6789 to be connected to the crisis centre nearest you (no area code required.) Online, help is available through Crisis Services Canada at crisisservicescanada.ca and British Columbia at crisislines.bc.ca. The telephone number for VictimLinkBC is 1-800-563-0808.

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John Arendt

About the Author: John Arendt

John Arendt has worked as a journalist for more than 30 years. He has a Bachelor of Applied Arts in Journalism degree from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute.
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