Bruce Pitt-Payne, a former RCMP officer, says a warrantless entry into a house in western Newfoundland could have turned deadly. (Submitted by Bruce Pitt-Payne)
A former Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer and a professor of constitutional law say police officers have more explanations to make about a warrantless entry to a house in western Newfoundland in June.
According to the RCMP, officers who entered the Mount Moriah home, looking for a teenage girl who had been reported missing, were able to do so legally in demanding circumstances.
But Bruce Pitt-Payne, who was an official with the RCMP for 26 years, says the force has not shown that the situation meets the definition of “demanding circumstances”, which has specific criteria.
“It’s a high level, a big burden to prove. You can’t just say, ‘Well, we felt it was necessary or it was demanding.'” You have to articulate it, ”Pitt-Payne said Thursday.“ I’m not saying the police didn’t have that. I’m saying no one tells us. “
Cortney Pike says she woke up around 5:30 a.m. on June 5 to find two RCMP officers at her home. Officers had entered the house without permission and had already entered her 11-year-old daughter’s room, putting a light on her face and questioning her about a missing 17-year-old girl.
The missing girl was not inside the house, and Pike has repeatedly said his family does not know her.
Pitt-Payne said entry without a warrant could have resulted in a more dangerous and life-threatening situation.
“The cops could have been hit with something. They could have been shot,” he said. “They could have a surprised owner jumping with a gun and the police shoot them.”
Last week, Pike said he had filed formal complaints with both the RCMP and the provincial serious incident response team, a civilian-run oversight agency.
‘Imminent danger’
At a press conference on June 10, RCMP spokesman Cpl. Jolene Garland told reporters that the two officers who entered the house believed the missing girl was inside the house and in immediate danger, but could not tell what that danger was.
“I don’t have the specific level of harm other than what the complainant reported to the RCMP, it was that the young man expressed interest in wanting to return home,” he said. “At the time there were concerns about his safety.”
At a press conference on June 10, Cpl. Jolene Garland said a review found that officers who broke into a Mount Moriah home without permission did nothing wrong. (Darrell Roberts / CBC)
Pitt-Payne said if officers entered the house in demanding circumstances, the RCMP should be able to define what danger the girl faced.
“Being a fugitive doesn’t give you demanding circumstances,” he said.
Garland said officers said they tried to alert occupants by knocking on doors and windows and shouting for 45 minutes, and then spent another 15 minutes hitting an oil tank located inside an unlocked door. Pike said he did not listen to officers until they were already inside the house.
But Pitt-Payne said the time officers spent trying to alert people living in the home also contradicts the defense of “demanding circumstances.”
“What the police say is ‘demanding, but not demanding enough to go put the door in there.'”
Benoît Pelletier, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Ottawa, said that under Canadian law, there are demanding circumstances when there is an imminent danger of injury or death. They may also exist if there is an imminent danger of a suspect escaping or the destruction of evidence.
“Keywords are‘ imminent danger, ’” he said.
Benoît Pelletier, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Ottawa, said the demanding circumstances call for a situation of “imminent danger.” (CBC)
Pelletier said police should judge this danger based on the facts as he knows them.
“This is a responsibility that is strong, I would say heavy, on the shoulders of police officers.”
“They are also facts as they are estimated or evaluated by a prudent and reasonable person,” he said.
Correct and incorrect
According to what he has read about the incident, Pelletier said, he believes the officers acted correctly; however, he said the officer’s actions need to be reviewed.
“Careful examination must be made of the situation or the facts which are in fact invoked by the police to see who is right and wrong,” he said.
While he believes the agents ’actions were justified, Pelletier said the entry without a warrant was still a denial of the rights of the family living in the house.
“We have a right to live in peace in our home and not to be afraid, in fact, that the police will enter the place without order.”
Cortney Pike is inside the doorway of her home, where she says two RCMP agents entered unannounced around 5:30 a.m. in early June. (Troy Turner / CBC)
Garland said senior management reviewed the case and found the two officers acted correctly; however, he said the RCMP did not interview or speak to the family living in the home as part of the review.
Pitt-Payne said this is a problem.
“How can you investigate if something was done correctly or legally when you haven’t talked to the owners yet?” he asked.
Pitt-Payne calls for another review, by an agency like SIRT-NL, to give more clarity to the agents ’actions and reasons for entering the home.
“It’s the lack of what’s being said that calls out the loudest volume,” he said.
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