Misconduct findings upheld for VPD officers who wrongly handcuffed Heiltsuk man and granddaughter

A review by British Columbia's police complaint commissioner has determined a public hearing is not required into the wrongful arrest and handcuffing of an Indigenous man and his granddaughter at a bank in downtown Vancouver.

A statement from the commissioner's office says Clayton Pecknold's review of an earlier disciplinary decision upholds its finding that two Vancouver police officers committed misconduct in arresting Maxwell Johnson and his young granddaughter, both members of the Heiltsuk Nation in Bella Bella, B.C.

Pecknold has also determined a public hearing or review on the record would not be in the public interest.

The disciplinary decision said the officers acted "recklessly" and used unnecessary force while it imposed a three-day suspension for one officer, a two-day suspension on the other, and ordered both to take remedial training and send written apologies to the victims.

Pecknold confirms the apologies have been sent.

Johnson and his 12-year-old granddaughter were arrested in December 2019 after staff at the main Vancouver branch of the Bank of Montreal alleged they used a fake status card to open an account. Staff called 911 and the attending VPD officers put both of them in handcuffs.

Johnson has said that seeing his granddaughter crying in handcuffs was heartbreaking.

"You can see how scared she was … It was really hard to see that," he told CBC in an interview not long after the arrests.

Pair 'exposed to unnecessary trauma and fear'

Pecknold's review says the disciplinary decision imposed by a retired judge "correctly characterized" that because of the actions of the officers, "two vulnerable persons of Indigenous heritage were exposed to unnecessary trauma and fear, and left with a serious perception of unfairness in their treatment at the hands of police."

The complaint commissioner's review says the Vancouver Police Board is still considering a separate but related complaint concerning Vancouver Police Department policies related to handcuffing.

Depending on that outcome, Pecknold says he may make further recommendations to the department or Solicitor General's Ministry about training or policies.

The VPD has apologized for handcuffing Johnson and his granddaughter. 

Phone transcripts from Dec. 20, 2019, show that the BMO branch manager who called 911 said she was concerned about a large sum of money Johnson had in his account — funds he and all other Heiltsuk members received as a result of an Aboriginal rights settlement.

In May, Johnson announced that he had reached a financial settlement in his human rights complaint against BMO. Among other details, it included an undisclosed monetary payment and updates to internal policies for handling status cards.

Johnson has since closed his accounts at the bank.