The Davies Commission

Inquiry into the Death of Frank Paul
William H. Davies, Q.C., Commissioner

Policy Phase

Updated on Tuesday, May 06, 2008; subject to change

Terms of Reference

Paragraphs (c) and (d) of the Inquiry’s Terms of Reference instruct the Commissioner to examine and report on several policy issues:

  1. to examine the rules, policies and procedures of the Criminal Justice Branch respecting its role and response when an individual dies in circumstances similar to the circumstances of Mr. Paul's death;

  2. to recommend changes considered necessary to the rules, policies and procedures referred to in paragraph (c);

Policy Sessions

A policy session is scheduled for November 23, 2010. If necessary, the policy session will begin on November 22, 2010 and continue on November 23, 2010. The sessions will be held in Strategy Room 320 at the Wosk Centre, 580 West Hastings Street, (enter via Seymour Street courtyard entrance), Vancouver. Subject to the number of presenters and the time required, it is presently anticipated that the sessions will start at 10:00 a.m. with a lunch break and finish in the early afternoon. (Any change to the November 23, 2010 start time will be posted here by Friday, November 19, 2010).

The Terms of Reference instruct the Commissioner:

  • To examine the rules, policies and procedures of the Criminal Justice Branch respecting its role and response when an individual dies in circumstances similar to the circumstances of Mr. Paul’s death; and

  • To recommend changes considered necessary to the rules, policies and procedures referred to above.

The policy sessions are open to the public and media and the procedures for the policy sessions will be the same as provided for courtroom sessions.

Memorandum

A memorandum has been prepared by David M. Layton for the policy sessions:

Memo: Policy Issues Arising at Criminal Justice Branch Phase of Inquiry into the Death of Frank Paul (November 8, 2010)

PowerPoint Presentation: Legal and Ethical Issues - Criminal Justice Branch - Policy Phase

Closing Submissions

Closing submissions are scheduled for December 14, 2010, and if necessary, will continue on December 15, 2010. The Closing submissions will start at 10:00 a.m. and be held in court room 601 in the Federal Court Facility at 701 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC.

Once a schedule for the submissions is determined, it will be posted here.

Terms of Reference

Paragraphs (c) to (g) of the Inquiry’s Terms of Reference instruct the Commissioner to examine and report on several policy issues:

  1. to examine the rules, policies and procedures of the Vancouver police board and of the Vancouver police department respecting police interaction with persons who are incapacitated by alcohol or drug use, including directions for the handling, detention, transportation and release of individuals who, as a result of alcohol or drug use, are incapacitated, violent, unable to care for themselves, self-destructive or unconscious;

  2. to examine the rules, policies and procedures of the British Columbia Ambulance Service respecting the interaction of staff of the British Columbia Ambulance Service with persons who are incapacitated by alcohol or drug use, including directions for the handling and transportation of individuals who, as a result of alcohol or drug use, are incapacitated, violent, unable to care for themselves, self-destructive or unconscious;

  3. to examine the rules, policies and procedures of the BC Coroners Service, the Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner and the Criminal Justice Branch of the Ministry of Attorney General related to the role and response of each of those offices where an individual dies in circumstances similar to the circumstances of Mr. Paul’s death;

  4. to recommend changes considered necessary to the rules, policies and procedures referred to in paragraphs (c), (d) and (e);

  5. to identify the health care and social service programs and facilities available in the City of Vancouver that the police may access if a municipal constable determines that a person should not be detained but the person requires immediate health care or social services because the person is incapacitated by alcohol or drug use.

Inquiry Activities

The Inquiry plans three activities, in order to address these policy issues:

  1. Written submissions
    The Inquiry invites members of the public to make written submissions on issues arising from paragraphs (c) to (g) of the Terms of Reference. Submissions should be emailed or delivered to the Commission office by 4:00 p.m. on Friday, May 16, 2008.

  2. Presentations by participants
    The Inquiry has invited individuals and organizations that have been granted participant status to make presentations on policy issues. These sessions will be informal, including presentations and discussion among participants. Members of the public are invited to attend and observe these proceedings. A schedule for these policy sessions is attached.

  3. The Inquiry’s own examination of policy issues
    The Inquiry is conducting its own consultations, as well as research into and examination of the policy issues arising out of the Terms of Reference. If, as a result of these inquiries, the Commissioner intends to make significant policy recommendations to government, he will advise participants in advance, providing an opportunity for comment.

Some of the issues that the Inquiry is examining, and with respect to which it invites submissions, are attached.

Policy Sessions

All matters start at 9:30 a.m. unless otherwise noted.

Venues: All of Phase Four and the first day of closing submissions are at the BC Human Rights Tribunal. We then move to the Robson Square Provincial Court for the remainder of closing submissions. The dates and venues are as follows:

April 28-May 9: BC Human Rights Tribunal, 12th floor, 605 Robson Street

May 12-16: Courtroom 101, Robson Square Provincial Court, 800 Hornby Street

Upcoming Phase Four Presentations

Closing Submissions

We have changed our start time to 2pm on Monday, May 12, at Robson Square Provincial Court, #101. Below is a revised schedule for next week as I obtain estimates for submissions. It will be posted on the commission website soon.Also, I am happy to share my notes taken during closing submissions if anyone wants them -- for today and through next week.

(counsel's time estimates in parentheses)

Monday, May 12 - note 2pm start

Cameron Ward (2 hours)

Tuesday, May 13

Terrence Robertson, QC (15 minutes)
Jonathan Rudin / Kimberly Murray (2 hours)
Joseph Arvay, QC (approx. 2 hours) [may move]

Wednesday, May 14

Rodrick MacKenzie (1 hour)
Michael Tammen (1.5 hours)
David Crossin, QC (1 hour)

Thursday, May 15

George Macintosh, QC / Sean Hern (3 hours)
Frank Falzon, QC (1.5 hours)

Friday, May 16

Kevin Woodall (2 hours)

Policy Issues

Some of the policy issues arising out of the Terms of Reference that the Inquiry is examining, and with respect to which it invites submissions, are set out below.

How we deal with people who are incapacitated by alcohol or drug use

When a police officer responds to a call about an intoxicated person, the officer has limited options — have the person transported to a hospital, request transport assistance from Safe Ride, transport the person to the Detox Centre or, if the person is not eligible for admission to the Detox Centre, transport the person to the Vancouver jail.

Typically, the intoxicated person is released from the hospital, Detox Centre or Vancouver jail within a few hours, with no community support. If the person has a chronic addiction, the cycle repeats itself with alarming regularity.

Vancouver is home to at least 2,000 homeless people, a majority of whom also experience severe addictions and/or mental illness. Frank Paul was typical of this group of incapacitated people. In the years leading up to his death, he had hundreds of interactions with VPD, several hundred admissions to Vancouver General Hospital and St. Paul’s Hospital, well over 100 ambulance attendances and numerous admissions to the Detox Centre and to the Vancouver jail.

The current regime for dealing with such people in Vancouver might be described as a series of revolving doors, each door addressing the immediate crisis but none of them tackling the underlying medical and social conditions.

Various alternatives have been proposed, ranging from short-term sobering centres to assertive community treatment programs, such as that recently proposed by the City of Victoria Mayor’s Task Force on Breaking the Cycle of Mental Illness, Addictions and Homelessness.

Although this Inquiry’s Terms of Reference are limited, the Commissioner may wish to include in his Report a discussion of the inadequacies of the current regime for assisting people who are incapacitated by alcohol or drug use, and some indication of what new health care and social services programs and facilities should be considered for people (such as Frank Paul) who experience homelessness, severe addictions and mental illness.

Complaints about police officers

The Frank Paul case has renewed calls for changes to the current system for investigating complaints against municipal police officers. This issue gained prominence in British Columbia in 1994, with Justice Oppal’s Policing in British Columbia report. The 1998 Police Act implemented some, but not all, of Justice Oppal’s recommendations.

Since then, there have been calls for reform:

  • The 2002 Legislative Assembly’s Special Committee report,

  • The 2005 Police Complaint Commissioner’s White Paper,

  • The 2006 Police Complaint Commissioner’s Green Paper,

  • The 2007 Josiah Wood report on the police complaint process.

In Ontario, the 2005 LeSage report made wide-ranging recommendations for changes to the police complaints process, many of which were incorporated in the Independent Police Review Act, 2007. However, these proposed reforms will not change the role of the Special Investigations Unit, that investigates serious injuries and deaths that may have resulted from criminal offences committed by police officers.

In B.C., it is anticipated that the government may table amendments to Part 9 of the Police Act during the current legislative session. Depending on the nature of those proposed amendments, the Commissioner may wish to comment on whether changes should be made to the current regime and, in particular, to cases where a person dies or is seriously injured either while in police custody or as a result of interaction with the police.

There are a variety of alternatives that might be considered, if it were decided that a home police department should not investigate these types of complaints against its own officers. For example, the investigation might be conducted by another municipal department, by the R.C.M.P., by an integrated investigative unit (either full time or ad hoc) comprised of police officers seconded from other municipal police departments and the R.C.M.P., by a stand-alone independent “civilian” investigative unit (e.g. Ontario’s SIU), or by the Police Complaint Commissioner.

In considering such alternatives, thought would need to be given to factors such as the investigator’s capacity for an immediate response, public confidence in the independence of the investigator, competence, cost, caseloads, and civilian oversight.

Frank Paul Inquiry 2007 ©