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Temitope Oriola: Review of events leading to Chinatown murders a test for police commission

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The Edmonton Police Commission (EPC) announced earlier this month its decision to employ an independent third party to review circumstances surrounding the release of Justin Bone. RCMP officers dropped off Bone in Edmonton three days before he allegedly killed two men, Hung Trang and Ban Phuc Hoang, on  May 18, 2022, in Chinatown. The drop-off was contrary to an explicit condition set by the courts. 

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These are moments when the quality of civilian oversight of police is unveiled. A public inquiry would be helpful in such a case but a third-party independent review is a middle-of-the-road approach. Reviewing the circumstances of Bone’s release is a welcome development. However, the terms of reference of the independent review are underwhelming. The terms read like a product of compromise between those who wanted concise action and those who were reluctant to act on the matter.

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The terms of reference do not include ascertaining who did what, when and how. Much is left to processes and procedures without regards to identifying the actors involved. In other words, a clear path and locus of responsibility for purposes of accountability ought to be part of the terms. To use a school analogy, it is insufficient for administrators to gather facts about cheating on an examination, how cheating occurred and opportunity for growth. It is crucial to know who cheated, when and how as well as apportionment of appropriate disciplinary action. 

As the EPC considers conducting an independent review of this issue, I recommend a two-part process. The first is a three-to-six-month review with exclusive focus on the circumstances leading to the killings of the two men in Chinatown in May 2022. It is important to establish who failed to do what, when and how. The second is a more detailed and comprehensive overview of the volume of similar drop-offs, the present circumstances of those dropped off and the social consequences therefrom. The entire two-stage process may be wrapped up in 12-15 months. Such an exercise is worth taxpayers’ money. 

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There are broader issues at play, which are neither captured in the terms of reference nor fully centred so far in public discourses on the matter. The individual who provided housing for Bone at Alberta Beach noted that “Years ago, he should have had a mental health bed, not a prison cell.” This is quite instructive. Wallis Snowdon indicates in her excellent reporting on the matter that Bone “took his first drink at six and was using marijuana and alcohol regularly by 14. He later developed an addiction to methamphetamines.” Snowdon also notes that Bone had been a “victim of domestic violence, physical and sexual assault throughout his childhood” and had a family that “struggled with substance abuse and homelessness.”  

The point is that the series of failures regarding Bone did not begin with the police. The police exacerbated the problem by continuing the pattern of poor or inadequate social service and lethal indifference. Bone’s case demonstrates textbook characteristics of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Police (in)action is a part of a broader societal issue. Early intervention could have averted the tragedy of Justin Bone.  

Finally, the Justin Bone case is a test of the mettle and quality of the EPC. The EPC’s capacity to fulfill its mandate is under the microscope. I sincerely hope they pass this test. 

Temitope Oriola is professor of criminology at the University of Alberta and president-elect of the Canadian Sociological Association. Email: oriola@ualberta.ca Twitter: @topeoriola  

 

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