B.C.’s police oversight agency is investigating a serious-harm incident that occurred at the Sunshine Coast RCMP detachment in Sechelt.
The incident involved a woman who was arrested and transported to the detachment cells after RCMP responded to a report of erratic driving at about 10:20 p.m. on Sept. 21, the Independent Investigations Office (IIO) of BC said in a media release posted Oct. 14.
“While at the detachment, an interaction occurred, and the woman sustained a non-life-threatening injury,” the IIO said. “Medical assistance was provided, and Emergency Health Services were called to take the woman to a local hospital for treatment.”
The IIO said it was notified of the incident shortly after it occurred, and two IIO investigators were deployed to Sechelt soon after.
The injured woman, who is in her sixties, has since been released from hospital, IIO media liaison Rebecca Whalen told Coast Reporter on Oct. 18.
“There is one subject officer involved in the incident,” Whalen said.
The traffic stop occurred on Osprey Street in Sechelt, but the IIO could not release the woman’s place of residence or her exact age, Whalen said, as “the IIO is legislatively required to withhold personal information except in rare cases… In this case, the public interest does not outweigh the privacy interests of the affected person.”
Other details of the incident could not be released in order “to preserve the integrity of the IIO investigation.”
As B.C.’s independent civilian oversight agency of the police, IIO investigates all officer-related incidents that result in serious harm or death, whether or not there is any allegation of wrongdoing.
The IIO was not able to provide a timeline to complete the investigation.
