Brutality Canada Police Brutality O Canada

Once again, the police officer who shot and killed a man remains anonymous. If anyone can supply us with "the sniper's" name, we will post it here!

DAVID MELZER INQUEST:
SUICIDE BY COP

Police shooting ruled suicide

Melzer inquest concludes his death amounted to 'suicide by cop,' forcing police to shoot

Thursday, July 12, 2001
By ALLAN WOODS, London Free Press Reporter

The shooting death of David Melzer by a police sniper last year was a suicide, a coroner's jury ruled yesterday. "I think (the jury) made up their mind before the (inquest) ended," said Melzer's mother, Annie. Melzer was shot by a police bullet shortly before 8 a.m. June 2 2000 during an 11-hour standoff with London police at his parents' Pond Mills home.

The jury's finding was based heavily on two expert witnesses who testified Melzer's actions that day were consistent with a 50-year-old theory known as "suicide by cop." The theory says Melzer acted in such a way as to force police to kill him. John Melzer, who represented his family and dead son at the four-week inquest, said he wasn't surprised by the verdict. "To me, (suicide by cop) is just something the police invented to justify their actions," he said. "Obviously the experts . . . brought in were all geared toward a verdict of suicide by cop."

The findings of an inquest carry no legal weight. The jury, however, makes recommendations based on what it thinks will prevent a similar situation from happening in the future. The jury made 14 recommendations relating to gun regulations, police tactical protocol and inquest procedure. Acting Chief Brian Collins of London police said he agreed with the verdict and hoped it would give the parties involved a sense of closure. "This has been a very unfortunate incident not only for the family of David Melzer but for the police as well," Collins said. "Our officers reacted with valour, dedication to duty and with the highest degree of restraint."

Tom Schneider, lawyer for the coroner, said the jury's recommendations were well thought out and could help prevent similar situations. "The jury in the rationale for the firearms recommendations indicated that they felt the availability of firearms were the root cause of this incident." The recommendations will be forwarded, along with a report by Dr. Robert Drake, the presiding coroner, to the office of Ontario's chief coroner, who will distribute them to the appropriate governing bodies.

INQUEST RECOMMENDATIONS

- Firearms licences for people living with someone prohibited from owning guns should require the licencees to store guns at some place other than the house.
- Section 109, 110 and 111 of the Firearms Act or Criminal Code of Canada should prohibit a person owning guns from living in a place where guns are stored.
- People banned from owning guns should be required to notify police when they move into a house where guns are present. - Gun storage regulations should specify minimum requirements for gun storage.
- An information package outlining safe and proper handling of firearms should be given to people obtaining licences.
- A standard guideline for treating patients with substance abuse problems should be developed.
- There should be a database to track all prescriptions that are already filled.
- A forensic psychologist or psychiatrist should be attached to any police department with a special tactical unit.
- An experienced officer should be assigned in tactical situations to gather information from the family and keep them informed of the situation.
- Emergency 911-type services should have a Global Positioning System (GPS) to track the location of cell phone calls.
- Counselling should be provided to tactical team members involved in an incident where there is a death or grievous bodily harm.
- Civilians affected by such police action should be provided with counselling.
- Before a police "bag phone" is used in a place where a barricaded person is, police should tell the person what they are doing. They should also label the bag clearly and change the ring to that of a normal phone.
- A handbook explaining inquest procedures and protocols should be provided to families of the deceased. Also, a legal professional should be provided for free for the first three days of the inquest.

Reprinted under the Fair Use doctrine of international copyright law.

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This page created July 15, 2001