The RCMP should review some of its procedures regarding junior officers and those in training, a coroner's jury has recommended.
The suggestions came last week following a three-day inquest into the death of Surrey's Kenneth Keith Baines nearly two years ago.
Baines, 46, was shot by an undercover Surrey RCMP officer in July 2009.
Police were investigating an unrelated crime when they spotted a brown 1992 Honda Accord that had been reported stolen that day. When officers tried to stop the car and arrest the driver, the suspect tried to flee by ramming a police car with his vehicle. The officer who shot Baines had two years experience.
A total of eight recommendations were made – six for the RCMP, one for the B.C. Ambulance Service and one for the B.C. Minister of Health.
Three of the six directed to the RCMP involved junior or training officers, such as reviewing procedures about self-assessment in volatile situations to ensure they're thinking clearly. It was also suggested procedures about junior officers communicating with lead officers before using lethal force be reviewed, and that the RCMP provide additional training for new officers "with specific attention to improving skills in reacting to dangerous situations."
The jury also recommended the B.C. Ambulance Service look at "staging procedures" with RCMP for a quicker response time and that the B.C. Minister of Health make more facilities available for rehabilitation of addicts.