Inquiry into death of native left by police in alley begins
A public inquiry is set to begin Tuesday in the case of a First Nations man who died of exposure nearly a decade ago after Vancouver police left him in a back alley on the Downtown Eastside.
Frank Paul, a former resident of the Big Cove First Nation in New Brunswick, was picked up by Vancouver police the night ofDec. 5, 1998, for being drunk in a public place.
The 47-year-old Mi'kmaq man was crawling on his hands and knees, unable to walk, in a jail cell, according to a police surveillance video. He was later removed from the cell and left in a rainy back alley.
An autopsy concluded he died of hypothermia because of exposure due to alcohol intoxication.
David Dennis, vice-president of the United Native Nations, a group that helped Paul through much of the early 1990s when he was homeless on the west side, said he hopes the inquiry will shine some light on how Vancouver police treat First Nations people in custody.
"We know that by looking at facts and forensics what has happened to aboriginal people in police custody," Dennis told CBC News on Monday.
"A good majority have been killed in police custody under very suspicious circumstances… there's no level of deterrence for them to change their attitudes towards our people," he said.
Theaim of the inquiry, which is being held in Vancouver, is not to find fault but it can make recommendations on changes to police policies and procedures.
No charges laid in Paul's death
Crown lawyers reviewed the case in June 2004 and determined charges were not warranted.
Two Vancouver police officers were disciplined internally, and the police department has considered the case closed.
A corrections officerwho wasworking the night Paul died claimed the internal police investigation was a sham and took it to the police complaints commissioner in 2003.
Commissioner Dirk Ryneveld recommended a public inquiry into the case but his recommendation was rejected by the provincial government at the time.
The B.C. government reversed its decision in February of this year after CBC News reported the corrections officer'sclaim.