Unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səlilwətaɬ Nations (Vancouver, BC)  — The Coroner’s Inquest into the death of Jimmie Johannesson, a 61-year-old Haida man, concluded yesterday, raising serious concerns about how the RCMP respond to wellness checks. Ruby Marks, Jimmie Johannesson’s sister, and the BC Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) are calling on the Director of Policing and Law Enforcement Services, the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, the Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs, and the Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction to direct resources to review and implement the jury’s recommendations.

Evidence and testimony make clear that the police officers involved did not adequately use the tools and resources at their disposal when they were dispatched to Jimmie’s house, leaving questions as to whether a change in any one of these actions could have led to a different outcome and preserved Jimmie’s life. 

• The inquest revealed that when Jimmie’s probation officer contacted Surrey RCMP to conduct a wellness check on April 8, 2022, officers made no attempt to contact the probation officer for crucial background information that could have informed their response during the 13-minute window from dispatch to arriving at Jimmie’s residence.
• After arriving on site, the officers took minimal time to plan their approach to entering the home. Testimonies indicated officers could not recall the specifics of their plan. Notably, the least experienced officers were assigned to enter Jimmie’s home while the Sergeant, the most experienced and senior officer, secured the back. 
• Two members of the Police Mental Health Outreach Team (PMHOT) who arrived after the initial responding officers testified that, despite having this crucial mental health resource available, they did not contribute to, nor did they have any influence on, the plan already in place. 
• The inquest showed that Surrey RCMP officers were dispatched to Jimmie’s home because his cell phone pinged there, but none of the officers took the less intrusive method of calling Jimmie’s phone to make contact, even after arriving on scene and surrounding the home. 
• Photographs of the home and testimony revealed officers entered Jimmie’s home through a small, crowded entrance, one officer called the “fatal tunnel” in a tactically dangerous manner that impacted their ability to use non-lethal force. It was also revealed that one of the PMHOT officers had his taser drawn when entering the home but did not deploy the taser because he was at the back of the group and there was a risk of hitting his fellow officers.  
• Surrey RCMP officers used a civilian witness to unlock the door to Jimmie’s home despite operating under the impression that Jimmie might have access to a firearm. The four officers and the civilian witness were “bunched together” in a small, congested entryway with stairs. This placed the civilian witness and the officers at risk, made egress from the home chaotic and dangerous, and significantly impacted officers’ ability to respond to Jimmie without using deadly force.

Quotes:

Ruby Marks, Haida Elder, Jimmie Johannesson’s sister:

“I wish the police officers involved would have taken the time to get more background information about Jimmie’s mental health before entering his home. I wish they would have taken the time to call his cell phone first. I keep thinking if the Mental Health Outreach Team had been more involved in developing the response plan, maybe my brother would still be here. Overall, I am happy with the jury recommendations. There needs to be more collaboration with First Nations when it comes to police reform. I hope the government implements these recommendations in a meaningful way to prevent future harms.”   

Latoya Farrell, Policy Staff Counsel, BC Civil Liberties Association:

“For many people, the very presence of a police officer is a form of escalation. It is far easier to escalate the use of force than to de-escalate once tensions are high. Jimmie was already in a heightened state of mental health crisis. There were several actions the officers could have taken first to better inform their response, but they didn’t. It was incumbent on these officers to consider how their presence in Jimmie’s home would increase the stress of the situation. It took 23 seconds between the time Surrey RCMP entered Jimmie’s home and the time he was killed. No one should die because of a wellness check.” 

Background:

On the morning of April 8, 2022, at approximately 10:00 am, several Surrey RCMP officers were dispatched to the home of Haida Elder Jimmie Johannesson, 61, to conduct a wellness check. Earlier that morning, Elder Jimmie spoke with his probation officer and had stated he wished to harm himself in public. After arriving on scene, RCMP officers and a civilian entered the residence. They were in the front entrance, bunched together at the bottom of the stairs. Elder Jimmie was in a room at the end of the hall. After a brief exchange, Elder Jimmie ran at the RCMP officers with a knife, forcing them and the civilian to flee the residence. An RCMP officer fired five shots, killing Elder Jimmie. 

The Independent Investigations Office of BC is responsible for investigating all incidents of death or serious harm that were a result of the actions or inactions of a police officer, whether on or off duty. On August 1, 2024, the IIO issued its final investigative report, finding no reasonable grounds to believe that an officer may have committed an offence.  

However, the IIO acknowledged that it was important for police to consider that Elder Jimmie was in his home, a place that is used for both physical and psychological security. The IIO further acknowledged that “challenging a person in their home has the potential to increase the stress of the situation,” and “the better police can shape their approach to an [affected person] to take into account the stress of being confronted in their own home, the more likely their actions will be deemed to be reasonable.” The IIO recommended that “all police agencies should develop training to ensure, as much as possible in the circumstances of each case, that any approach to an [affected person] in their home takes this factor into account.”