B.C. coroner's inquest recommends all RCMP officers wear body cameras, carry Tasers

The man shot by police in the Tla-o-qui-aht Village of Opitsaht has been identified by family as 28-year-old Julian Jones. Photo by Facebook

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A jury at a coroner’s inquest into the death of a 28-year-old Indigenous man has recommended all RCMP officers wear body cameras and all be trained in and carry Tasers.

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The jury ruled Julian Jones’ death a homicide from a gunshot wound to the chest, from a handgun fired by an RCMP officer in a house in the tiny community of Opitsaht off of Vancouver Island.

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The jury also recommended the RCMP consider having Indigenous liaison workers with the RCMP in Tofino, which is where local Mounties are based, across the water from Opitsaht.

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“The jury heard evidence that the RCMP could do more to learn about and incorporate cultural aspects in their policing of Indigenous people,” a jury member said in reading out the recommendations.

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The jury also recommended the B.C. Emergency Health Services consider contracts with water taxi services to be available 24 hours a day for the exclusive use of paramedics in Tofino.

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RCMP Staff Sgt. Kris Clark, a senior media relations officer, said Thursday that when coroner recommendations are made, the RCMP determines appropriate implementation where necessary.

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Clark said 1,650 body cameras were being used this spring by officers or just under half of the province’s Mounties. The plan is to have 3,600 body cameras in place by the fall of 2027.

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Previous coroner’s inquests have also recommended body cameras for police.

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A coroner’s inquest is not designed to find fault, but instead determines facts and makes recommendations to prevent future deaths under similar circumstances.

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Jones, a member of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, was killed after police responded to a 911 call at about 9 p.m. on Feb. 27, 2021, from a woman who said she had been sexually assaulted and was being held against her will.

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Two RCMP officers travelled from Tofino by boat to Opitsaht on Meares Island, about a two kilometre distance.

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The jury heard from the RCMP Cpl. Daniel Macintosh, who was at constable at the time, that Jones had brandished what he believed to be knives and threatened to kill him and his partner, and advanced on them. It was his partner, Const. David Robichaud, who shot Jones.

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Macintosh testified that Jones had clashed two long objects together and the entire room lit up with sparks.

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They later turned out to be long metal files, of the type used to sharpen tools, the jury was told.

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Macintosh had testified that when Jones was told to drop the objects, he did not.

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Robichaud, who has retired from the RCMP and no longer lives in B.C., chose not to testify at the inquest and could not be compelled to do so because coroners can only compel testimony from people in B.C.

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The jury heard that Robichaud used his Taser to try to stop Jones’s advance, but Jones got back up. Macintosh did not have a Taser because he was not trained in their use.

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While it was Robichaud who shot Jones, the jury heard that Macintosh believed he had also fired a shot and was prepared to shoot Jones as well.