Provincial posted Feb 22, 2023 @ 08:35am by Josh Duncan

Police inaction did not contribute to death of UBC student, IIO finds

The Independent Investigations Office of British Columbia (IIO) has finished its investigation into the untimely death of a UBC student in the fall.

BC’s police watchdog found that officer inaction did not contribute to the student’s death.

<who>Photo Credit: 123rf

According to the IIO report, the 911 call requesting medical assistance for the male student on the UBC Vancouver campus came in at 10 am on Nov. 14.

The investigation focused on two missed calls on the student’s cell phone from a number displaying as Vancouver Police that were made prior to 10 am that morning.

“The IIO investigation confirmed that the two calls before 10 am originated from ECOMM employees who are contracted by the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) but are not VPD employees or police officers,” the ruling explained. “A police officer was not assigned to follow up as there were no indications of distress.”

Furthermore, the IIO’s chief civilian director, after reviewing the evidence, determined that no police officer was notified about the situation prior to 10 am.

As a result, the investigation found that police inaction did not contribute to the student’s tragic death, which happened in hospital six days later.

The IIO investigation into this incident, which began on Feb. 6, is now concluded.

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