THE Prince George Mounties who tasered an 11year-old boy last spring acted within the bounds of the law, according to the West Vancouver police who investigated the incident.
West Vancouver Chief Const. Peter Lepine made the announcement via the force's website Thursday afternoon, more than five months after the probe began. It provided little further detail.
The statement marks the end of a protracted inquiry that began in April when Prince George RCMP stunned the child while responding to a reported stabbing.
Officers were called to a home there at about 5: 30 p.m. April 7 when someone reported that a youth had allegedly wounded a 37-year-old man with a sharp weapon.
The Mounties arrived to find the victim bleeding and the suspected attacker gone.
The officers eventually tracked the boy to a neighbouring house, where they coaxed him outside. When he emerged, he was tasered. It's not clear if he was armed at the time or threatening the officers.
The youth and the alleged stabbing victim were both taken to hospital and later released.
As has become common practice in police incidents in recent years, the RCMP called in a municipal force - in this case West Vancouver's - to investigate, the idea being that officers from a separate organization would be less likely to be suspected of bias.
West Vancouver investigators flew to Prince George a few days
after the incident to interview witnesses and gather other information. They interviewed the officers involved some time after that.
Lepine reviewed their final report and reached his conclusion based on the evidence they had gathered.
"The actions of the officers involved did not violate the Criminal Code of Canada, and we are not recommending charges," said the chief in the open letter on the WVPD site. Lepine did not address the question of a possible weapon, and did not provide any further details about the encounter.
"Our investigation is only one of many that will ultimately examine the circumstances surrounding this incident," he said. "My team and I fully support any and all efforts to get to the bottom of what happened and to make sure that any policies, procedures or protocols that need to be changed to protect public safety are changed."
Lepine, in Prince George to present his findings, could not be reached by deadline.
