Cortes Currents exclusive
There are several key questions that shape how people perceive the death of Jared Lowndes, at the hands of the Campbell River RCMP, on July 8, 2021.
Lowndes fled after police attempted to serve him with an outstanding warrant. The RCMP caught up with him at the WIllow Point Tim Hortons and boxed him in. (Police vehicles allegedly slammed into Lowndes car from three sides.) Then the police sent a police dog in. Lowndes drew a knife and killed the dog, at which point the RCMP gunned him down.
Firstly, what is your attitude towards the RCMP (trust or mistrust)? And how do you perceive First Nations people? Your answer to those questions will shape your interpretation of why Jared Lowndes fled.
Then there is the warrant the RCMP were pursuing Lowndes for. The National Police Federation said the outstanding warrant was for weapons offences.
Assuming it was a first offence, the minimum penalty for possession of an unauthorized firearm is one year in prison.
Lowndes family confirmed the idea the warrant was related to a weapons offence (possession of an unauthorized firearm) but added the case had already been to court and Lowndes was acquitted (someone confessed to planting the gun in his possessions). Do you believe them?
Now we come to the death of the police dog.
According to the RCMP news release, they had Lowndes ‘boxed in’ – i.e. he could not get away.
Some ask why did Lowndes kill the dog? Others are asking why did the RCMP send a police dog in to attack a man who could not get away?
There are also questions about the six months of training the RCMP receive.
Some point to the fact Lowndes is the fourth member of Vancouver Island’s Indigenous community that police have killed in a little more than a year. (3 were killed on the Island, 1 was killed in New Brunswick.)
Have they received sufficient training in defusing rather than escalating situations like this?
How much training have they received in dealing with minorities? – especially minorities that may not trust the police?
It has been six years since RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson told the Assembly of First Nations, “I understand that there are racists in my police force. I don’t want them to be in my police force.”
What have the RCMP done to detect and weed out the racists in their ranks?
Lastly, was either the RCMP’s lack of training in de-escalating intense situations, or racism, a contributing factor in the shooting of Jared Lowndes?
Links of Interest:
- (Cortes Currents) RCMP lack of training may have led to Indigenous deaths
- (Cortes Currents) The memorial for Jared Lowndes
- (Cortes Currents) Campbell River RCMP may have gunned down an innocent man
- (Cortes Currents) The shooting of Jared Lowndes
- (CBC) Bob Paulson says he doesn’t want racists inside RCMP ranks
- (BC Assembly of First Nations) Justice for Jared: FNLC Outraged at RCMP’s Fatal Shooting and Dehumanizing Treatment of Wet’suwet’en Man in Campbell River, BC
- (National Police Federation) July 12, 2021 – Statement: Campbell River RCMP Response Protected Residents, Community and Officers
- (RCMP) BC RCMP notify the Independent Investigation Office of a fatal incident in Campbell River
Top photo credit: Street-side memorial for Jared Lowndes across from the Tim Hortons restaurant where he was shot. The RCMP had him ‘boxed in’ at the ‘Drive Thru Exit,’ which you see in the top right – photo by Roy L Hales