The family of a woman shot by an officer in Edmonton during a wellness check said her death was unnecessary, as the number of police shootings across Canada show little sign of relenting over the past four years.
“I see my daughter’s death as being a result of a complete mishandling of the tools available to law enforcement in the application of dealing with mental health issues,” the family of the woman, who has not been publicly identified, said in a statement from their lawyer, Tom Engel.
Edmonton police have said officers were called for a welfare check earlier this month. There were risks the woman may harm herself, so police say officers entered the apartment. There was a confrontation and the woman was shot.
The woman’s family said that had the police approach been gradual and gentle, she would have understood the nature of the visit and would still be alive.
An upwards trend
A tally compiled by The Canadian Press found police shot at 85 people in Canada between Jan. 1 and Dec. 15 of this year — 41 fatally. Those numbers are based on available information from police, independent investigative units and reporting from The Canadian Press.
“This is a spectacularly unrelenting phenomenon,” said Temitope Oriola, a professor of criminology at the University of Alberta and president of the Canadian Sociological Association.
This year, the number of police shootings has nearly matched the total from 2022, when 94 people were shot at, 50 fatally. It remains a significant increase from four years ago, when there were 61 shootings, 38 of which were fatal.
The resulting snapshot shows more officers firing their guns since 2020, when the high-profile murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis spurred global movements urging police accountability and transparency.
Criminologists say officers need more training and restraint, while the RCMP union said police have been forced to the front lines of Canada’s mental health crisis and face increasingly dangerous situations.
“No cop that I have ever dealt with wants to go down this road,” said Brian Sauve, president of the National Police Federation, which represents about 20,000 Mounties across Canada.
“And every one of them is impacted momentously by the fact that they’ve had to discharge their weapon.”
Officers have the right to safety, Oriola said, but police shootings in Canada have been trending upward for too many years. Oriola added he is particularly concerned about the number of shootings in Alberta.
“We should not be leading the country in terms of police shootings,” he said.
A portrait of George Floyd is seen during a protest encampment on June 28, 2020 in a park near City Hall in New York City. Floyd’s death spurred global movements urging police accountability and transparency. (Jeenah Moon/Getty Images)
This year, Alberta saw 21 police shootings — a rate of 0.45 per 100,000 people — marking a 90 per cent increase from 2020, when there were 11.
There were 28 police shootings in Ontario — a rate of 0.18 per 100,000 people — up from 23 the year before. There were nine in Quebec.
All Atlantic Canada saw six police shootings, up from two the year before.
There were 17 shootings in British Columbia, down from 24 in 2022. Saskatchewan and Manitoba also saw decreases.
There have been at least two shootings this month that are not included in the tally. A man was killed on the Red Earth Cree Nation in Saskatchewan. A man was also injured in a shooting in Grande Prairie, Alta.
Young men continue to make up the majority of people shot by police. Race was identified in 18 cases and more than 60 per cent of those were Indigenous, Black or other people of colour.
The original 911 calls mainly involved a weapon, stolen vehicle or erratic driving. Six involved an active shooting.
In nearly 70 per cent of the police shootings, the person had a weapon. In 30 cases, it was a firearm or replica gun. In 20 cases, the person had a knife or other bladed weapon.
Sauve said police shootings in Canada remain rare compared to many other countries, but increasingly officers are encountering people with weapons. When there are guns or knives, he said, police must respond differently.
“Sometimes it’s Justin Bourque,” Sauve said, referring to the man who killed three Mounties in Moncton in 2014.
This year, three officers were killed in situations where they fired their weapons at someone. Another officer was shot and injured.
Sauve said police interactions have also become more confrontational, because there’s been an increase in the “general disrespect for anyone in authority, whether that’s a bylaw officer giving a parking ticket or whether that’s a police officer trying to defuse and de-escalate” a situation.
Addressing mental health
Due to pressures on overburdened social programs, Sauve said officers are also being relied on to respond to mental health crises and issues with homelessness.
Six shootings started as a call about a public disturbance, five for an unwanted person. Another six were wellness checks.
Officers must make split-second decisions, Sauve said, adding the average gunfight is over in under three seconds.
Vancouver police were called to Granville Street Bridge in February because it looked as though a man, draped in a blanket, was going to kill himself.
An officer called out to the man and his demeanour changed, the Independent Investigations Office of British Columbia said in its report. The man pulled out a knife and one officer unsuccessfully used a stun gun twice, the report said. A second officer fired their gun.
The man died.
Later that month, Vancouver city council approved $2.8 million in funding for mental health services, including hiring additional mental health nurses to be teamed with police.
Sauve said these types of partnerships are becoming increasingly important, but there isn’t funding to have them deployed across the country.
He supports additional training, access to less-than-lethal weapons and better technology for police. But, Sauve adds, long-term solutions lie in a societal response to homelessness, addictions and health care.
Oriola said there are clear changes that could happen, but policing remains “incredibly resistant to change” even as calls for reform grow.
“We should not be having the sheer volume of shootings we currently have and certainly not the degree of fatality that we are seeing.”
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — No. 1 Texas will start Arch Manning at quarterback Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe while regular starter Quinn Ewers continues to recover from a strained muscle in his abdomen, coach Steve Sarkisian said Thursday.
It will be the first career start for Manning, a second year freshman. He relieved Ewers in the second quarter last week against UTSA, and passed for four touchdowns and ran for another in a 56-7 Texas victory.
Manning is the son of Cooper Manning, the grandson of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning, and the nephew of Super Bowl-winning QBs Peyton and Eli Manning.
Ewers missed several games over the previous two seasons with shoulder and sternum injuries.
The Longhorns are No. 1 for the first time since 2008 and Saturday’s matchup with the Warhawks is Texas’ last game before the program starts its first SEC schedule against Mississippi State on Sept. 28.
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Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette returned to the 10-day injured list Thursday due to a right middle finger fracture.
The move, retroactive to Wednesday, essentially ends an injury-plagued season for Bichette.
He had two hits and one RBI in a 13-8 loss to Texas on Tuesday in his return from a 52-game stint on the IL with a right calf strain.
Bichette also missed nine games due to the calf issue in June.
His latest injury was suffered Wednesday during infield practice. Bichette was a late scratch in a 2-0 loss to the Rangers.
Bichette hit four homers with 31 RBIs in 81 games this season. He posted a .225 batting average and a .322 slugging percentage.
The Blue Jays also recalled outfielder Jonatan Clase from Triple-A Buffalo. He was active for the series finale against the Rangers on Thursday afternoon, the team said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Falcons wide receiver Drake London was penalized after catching a touchdown pass in the final minute of Atlanta’s 22-21 victory in Philadelphia on Monday night for pretending to shoot in the air, a violation of a longstanding NFL rule that prohibits violent gestures.
London immediately apologized on the sideline, according to Falcons coach Raheem Morris, and did it publicly on Wednesday.
“There’s a lot of stuff going around in the world with gun violence that I don’t think I should have displayed there,” London told reporters. “So, I’m not too happy with it, and (you) probably won’t see that again from me.”
The NFL has strict rules for celebrations and players are reminded annually that violations will result in unsportsmanlike penalties.
London’s 7-yard TD catch on a pass from Kirk Cousins tied the score at 21-21. His penalty pushed the extra point back 15 yards but Younghoe Koo made it from 48 yards out to give Atlanta a lead and Jessie Bates intercepted Jalen Hurts’ pass on the ensuing drive to seal the victory.
“We approach player celebrations as expressions of exuberance that are part of the excitement of the game. Rules were modified in 2017 that permitted group celebrations, including choregraphed demonstrations. Offensive demonstrations, celebrations that are prolonged and delay the game, and those directed at an opponent are still penalized,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said in a statement. “Players are reminded annually and it’s part of the player manual that demonstrations that constitute taunting or unsportsmanlike conduct, or delays the game, will result in a foul against his team.
“Also prohibited acts that occur anywhere on the field or sideline include longtime prohibitions against throat slash; machine gun salute; sexually suggestive gestures; or stomping or demonstrations on a team logo.”
London’s celebration came 12 days after four people were killed in a shooting at Apalachee High School near Winder, Georgia. The Falcons hosted the school’s football team at their practice facility last week.
