Calgary police who killed woman not criminally liable: ASIRT – Calgary

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A Calgary Police Service officer who shot and killed 29-year-old Stacey Perry on Christmas Day in 2018 is not criminally liable, according to the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT).

At approximately 11:58 p.m. on December 24, two CPS officers observed a vehicle driving slowly but erratically on westbound Blackfoot Trail SE from Deerfoot Trail SE.

The erratic driving led officers to believe Perry, the driver, may have been impaired, and they attempted to stop the vehicle, according to an ASIRT report released Friday. The vehicle did not stop and sped away, and the officers pursued the vehicle with their supervisor, but did not follow her further due to the risks.

Around 12:03 p.m., two other CPS officers noticed the same vehicle driving slowly but erratically on 9 Avenue SE at 13 Street SE Police said they also attempted to stop the vehicle, but the woman did not stop.

ASIRT said the officers followed the vehicle “from a distance” along with a police helicopter, but had to leave at around 12.39am. stopped when the helicopter was needed for another call.

Police then received a 911 call around 2:19 a.m. about the same vehicle, which was now in the area of ​​Falconridge Boulevard NE and 64 Avenue NE. Police followed the vehicle again in response and a police helicopter was dispatched at around 02:35

Shortly thereafter at 2:41 a.m., the acting staff sergeant in command of the operation at the time authorized the use of a low-speed entry maneuver to stop the vehicle. A low-speed entry maneuver involves the police surrounding a vehicle and forcing it to stop by physically restricting its movement.

ASIRT said officers began the maneuver just after the acting staff sergeant gave the go-ahead. They surrounded the woman’s vehicle and successfully brought it to a stop, with police vehicles in front, behind and on the passenger side of the vehicle. However, the police vehicle on the driver’s side left a gap, which later gave Perry the opportunity to move her vehicle.

Three officers then exited their vehicles, including the officer Perry later shot (identified as the “subject officer” in the ASIRT report). ASIRT said the subject officer, who was on the driver’s side of Perry’s vehicle, told her to turn off the vehicle and immediately smashed the window with his baton. He then tried to physically remove her from the vehicle.

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Police said Perry then attempted to free her vehicle from the box by aggressively pressing the gas pedal, shifting to the left and moving into the gap on the driver’s side of her vehicle. This resulted in an officer being pinned between a police vehicle door and Perry’s car, unable to escape the pinch because her feet were lifted off the ground while she was trapped.

ASIRT said the subject officer drew his gun and shot Perry three times at close range. All three shots hit her in the head and she died immediately, the report says.

The entire incident, from Perry’s vehicle stopping to the three shots being fired, lasted about 40 seconds, according to ASIRT.

An autopsy determined Perry died of multiple gunshot wounds to the head. A toxicology report showed Perry had prescribed cocaine and benzodiazepine, a sedative, in her system.

Subject officer found not criminally liable

According to the ASIRT report, the subject officer is not criminally liable.

ASIRT said police officers are allowed to use as much force as is necessary for the performance of their duties and for their defense under section 25 of the Penal Code. The officer’s shots at Perry were made in response to risks posed by the trapped officer in the incident, which ASIRT said protected the officer under the Criminal Code.

The report also said the shooting did not remove the risk to the trapped officer because Perry’s foot remained on the gas pedal after she was shot.

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“She was at the same risk of serious injury or death as before the shots. However, this does not mean that the actions of the subject officers were useless. To review his actions using the outcomes, which he could not have known at the time, is unreasonable,” the report said.

But ASIRT also found there were serious violations of CPS’ policy regarding box-in maneuvers and vehicle intervention techniques, which require everyone involved in the maneuver to be trained or certified in the techniques.

Both the subject officer and the trapped officer made tactical errors in executing the inbox maneuver that left them vulnerable, ASIRT said.

The report said that while the officers involved were legally entitled to pursue Perry, criminal flights are “inherently dangerous situations” for everyone involved. Only one of the officers involved was trained in the technique and the acting staff sergeant at the time must have known the policy, the report states.

The trapped officer could have died or suffered serious injuries as a result of their mistakes, ASIRT said.

It is also unclear whether the specific maneuver used in this incident was permitted under CPS policy and other options could have been used, ASIRT said.

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