Media Advisory

Chair-Initiated Complaint
In-custody death of Robert DZIEKANSKI
Vancouver, British Columbia
November 8, 2007

Paul E. Kennedy, Chair of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP (CPC), the federal agency that provides independent civilian review of RCMP members' conduct in performing their policing duties, has initiated a complaint into the conduct of RCMP members present at, or engaged in, the arrest of Robert Dziekanski at the Vancouver International Airport on October 14, 2007, and the adequacy of the subsequent criminal investigation, pursuant to subsection 45.37(1) of the RCMP Act.

In his complaint, Mr. Kennedy indicates that given the ongoing expressions of public concern as they relate to (1) the degree and type of force required by police officers when effecting an arrest and, as in this case, the specific concerns raised in respect of the use of a conducted energy weapon (Taser); and (2) the propriety of the police investigating the police, he is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to investigate the conduct of all RCMP members involved in this incident and the adequacy of the investigation conducted by the team tasked with the subsequent investigation. In addition, he will be assessing RCMP policy, procedures, directives and guidelines as they relate to the deployment of the conducted energy weapons and the handling of persons who cannot communicate in either of Canada's official languages.

The complaint can be found on the CPC website at www.cpc-cpp.gc.ca.

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For more information, please contact:
Nelson Kalil
Manager, Communications
613-952-2452
nelson.kalil@cpc-cpp.gc.ca