Trevor Proudman's death leaves family frustrated by police silence
Marion Warnica | CBC News | Posted: October 27, 2015 11:00 AM | Last Updated: August 18, 2016
'The privacy interests of the officers do not outweigh the public’s interest,' says lawyer
Edmonton police have refused a request for information about a man who died after he was left alone in the back of a police van, while his family say their one-year window to seek justice is quickly running out.
Trevor Proudman, 32, died after an unusual altercation with police last fall. His mother was refused access to the police investigation, which she says she needs to help launch a complaint that must be made before the first anniversary of his death on Nov. 13.
Meanwhile, police have changed the policy that may have led to her son's death.
"I just don't think it makes any sense," said Samantha Labahn, the Proudman family's lawyer.
She applied for a copy of Proudman's police file, as is the family's right under Alberta's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. That request was denied.
The reason, according to an Edmonton police disclosure analyst, was that doing so may be "an unreasonable invasion of a third party's personal privacy," which could "interfere with an ongoing investigation," or could reveal confidential information.
"This was a young man who was acting out one day and officers failed to make sure he was safe. [The officers] were public servants acting in their duties as public servants," Labahn said.
"The privacy interests of the officers do not outweigh the public's interest in this matter."
Detainee policy changed after death
Proudman had Prader-Willi syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that causes obesity and a mental disability. When he got upset and started yelling during a medical appointment last fall, officers handcuffed him with his arms behind his back and laid him on his side, alone and unsupervised, in the back of a police van.
After Proudman's mother, Maureen Warren, arrived less than an hour later to explain his condition, she said the officers told her they would not press charges and planned to let her son go.
They found Proudman unresponsive, and he later died in hospital. The medical examiner said he died of positional asphyxia, caused when a person who is restrained cannot breathe properly.
At the time, Edmonton police said it was "not uncommon" to leave someone who was arrested alone in the back of a police van. "It's a secure facility, so to speak. It's heated," said Insp. Regan James, the day after Proudman died.
Back then, there was no policy barring police from leaving a detainee unsupervised in the back of a patrol wagon, commonly referred to as a "cage van."
But there is now: Internal records accessed through freedom of information show a sharp shift in policy direction since Proudman's death.
Where the previous policy, from 2008, specified that detainees should not be left alone while in a police "car without a protective shield," a new policy is more broad and includes stipulations for treatment of detainees in all police vehicles.
Officers must ensure "the detainee is not left alone or unattended in the vehicle," and that they are "kept under observation," reads the document. The revision is dated January 2015, roughly two months after Proudman died.
Edmonton police representatives refused an interview. But in email responses, spokespersons said the policy change was part of a system-wide review — not in response to any particular incident.
They also confirmed the officers involved in Proudman's death have stayed on regular duties through the 11 months since, and have received no sanctions or disciplinary action.
To Proudman's family, that perceived lack of consequences is part of the reason why they believe their plan to launch a formal complaint against police feels like their only chance for justice.
His mother wants to make a formal complaint under Alberta's Police Act, the statute that governs the conduct of police officers.
Officers cannot be held criminally accountable under the act, but can be sanctioned or even fired. Such complaints must be made within one year of the date of the alleged offence.
'Like hitting a brick wall'
"I just want police to own up and say, 'We screwed up,'" said Warren.
At the very least, she wants to know what the investigation uncovered, what changes to police procedure — if any — have been recommended and when those changes will be put in place.
"It's like hitting a brick wall," Warren said.
She described the loss of her son as a physical pain in her chest that she feels every day. It's a pain that's been gathering strength as the one-year anniversary of his death approaches.
"It's sore. It's heavy … I think of him from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to bed."
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team reviewed the police investigation into Proudman's death. It passed that review and its recommendations to the police chief last week.
A spokesperson said the Edmonton police plan to make those recommendations public, but would not say when.
In November 2014, a police representative estimated the recommendations would be made public within a month.