Prof calls for outside agency to probe death

Brandon police should be barred from investigating the death of Cassity Delvenne to avoid any bias after she was allegedly assaulted by officers nine days before she died, a criminal justice professor says.

The University of Winnipeg’s Kevin Walby questions whether the police service can be trusted to accurately investigate the 24-year-old Indigenous woman’s death on June 21 following a police arrest involving “violent use of force” on June 12.

“All officers involved in the original arrest and beating and officers involved in the investigation should be pulled off the case, and some other public body should take over both cases immediately and look at connections between them,” he told the Sun on Friday.

Walby said her investigation has all the hallmarks of racism in policing, involving officers who think Indigenous women’s lives are “disposable.”

During her arrest, Cassity was dragged by police and sustained injuries including a chipped tooth, bruised ribs, a scrape from her ribs to her thigh and bloodied ears, said her mother, Crystal Delvenne.

“I lost any trust in the Brandon police,” she said.

“I’m angry. I’m disgusted with them.”

A 45-second video filmed by Cassity’s neighbour on the night of the alleged police assault shows two police officers pinning a woman to the ground as one officer strikes her on the back four times.

The woman can be heard screaming in pain as police lights illuminate the apartment parking lot in the video Crystal sent to the Sun.

Police arrested two women around 1:30 a.m. that night after receiving a call about a driver who was speeding and veering into oncoming traffic, police said in a news release on June 12.

The caller followed the vehicle to the Patricia Avenue address until police arrived.

An officer saw two people exit the vehicle “despite being told multiple times to stay in the vehicle,” and tried to “gain physical control” of the driver and passenger, the release said.

Police said the passenger pushed the officer and interfered as they tried arresting the driver.

The driver was charged with impaired driving, resisting arrest and failing to provide a breath sample when she was taken back to the police station. A 23-year-old woman was charged with assaulting a police officer and obstructing a police officer during the incident, police said.

The Brandon Police Service (BPS) confirmed Cassity was the driver but declined to provide further information on the incident as it remains under investigation, a spokesperson said in a statement.

“All relevant information pertaining to the incident, including the publicly circulating video, has been forwarded to the Independent Investigation Unit (IIU) for its consideration and assessment,” the statement said.

When the Manitoba police watchdog receives a report, a review is done to determine if it falls under its mandate before a formal investigation is launched, said a provincial spokesperson on behalf of the IIU.

The IIU didn’t confirm whether it was reviewing the incident or completing an investigation on Friday.

Crystal said she spoke on Wednesday with BPS Chief Tyler Bates, who told her he had no control over what incidents the IIU reviews.

She said Brandon police had previously contacted the IIU about the incident after Cassity made a complaint on the day of her arrest, but the IIU declined to investigate because she “didn’t have enough bruises.”

Police photographed Cassity’s injuries before she sought medical care at the Brandon Regional Health Centre, Crystal said.

Crystal has spent the last two months demanding officers take her daughter’s case seriously after evidence from her apartment was allegedly mishandled after she died.

She alleged officers admitted to making a “human error” when they allowed Cassity’s boyfriend — who was at the scene when she died — to keep her phone and apartment keys.

She believes foul play was involved but police are still waiting for the chief medical examiner to determine Cassity’s cause of death.

Police said Cassity was found unconscious and not breathing in her apartment on Patricia Avenue and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Walby said there’s a discrepancy between how police and the public define excessive force, with officers having the idea that they can use “one level higher” than any potential threat they’re facing.

“If a person’s not really using any force at all, they’re just squirming around … (police) feel entitled to kick them, punch them, put chokeholds on them, put different kinds of restraints on them,” he said.

“And I think, quite sadly, most of the time the accountability bodies like the IIU tend to rule in favour of the police.”

He said the IIU is supposed to investigate any time police are involved in an incident that causes serious injury or death and Cassity’s alleged beating should allow for a formal investigation.

Although Cassity has since died, investigators can use evidence such as the video and speak to witnesses, police and medical professionals to conduct their review.

Walby said he would like to see the Manitoba justice department step in to allow a third-party auditor to investigate Cassity’s death, but it’s likely another policing body such as the RCMP would take over.

“The fact that the investigation was so poorly handled, it just screams of disrespect for Cassity. And to me, it also points to potential issues of a coverup and links to the prior incident,” he said.

“It’s another sad case of Canadian police officers treating Indigenous women’s lives like they don’t matter.”

» tadamski@brandonsun.com