A Saint John Police Force car. Image: Brad Perry
A review into how the Saint John Police Force investigates major crimes like homicides has led to three recommendations.
The review by the New Brunswick Police Commission (NBPC) was requested in the wake of the Richard Oland murder investigation.
Oland was found dead in his uptown Saint John office in July 2011. His son, Dennis, was arrested more than two years later in November of 2013.
During his first trial in 2015, the judge identified four issues relating to how Saint John police processed and managed the crime scene.
That prompted the Saint John Board of Police Commissioners to ask for a review to determine if systems, processes and policies were in place to adequately investigate a homicide.
“The team assessed actions the Saint John Police Force has taken to strengthen its crime scene processing and management, since the 2011 homicide of Richard Oland,” said Lynn Chaplain, chair of the commission, in a statement.
“Based on the results of our examination, the Police Commission concludes the Saint John Police Force has addressed the issues raised by Justice Walsh in the 2015 trial of Dennis Oland.”
Review Looked At Several Homicides
The review team looked at 11 homicide cases and a random sampling of 20 sudden death incidents which took place between 2014 and 2019.
According to the report, the force created an electronic major incident template after the Oland investigation to ensure the information gathered during a murder investigation was “effectively documented and organized”.
The template, known as a Master Task List, also establishes a command triangle and assigns roles and responsibilities to investigators.
“While the police force has major crime unit business rules, there are no standard operating procedures (policies) that specify when an investigation will formally establish the command triangle and populate the Master Task List which is foundational to MCM [major case management] best practices,” said the report.
Review team members noted the absence of such policies in the event of a major incident, such as a homicide, is “unacceptable”.
The report went on to say that crime scene management best practices by the force are strong and scenes were controlled quickly with proper perimeters.
“Site access was controlled, and paths of contamination were considered and noted on the files,” it said.
Recommendations For Police, Province
The report makes two recommendations for the Saint John Police Force and one for the provincial government:
- That the Minister of Public Safety create a provincial major case management policy
- That the Saint John police chief establish standard operating procedures and policy for investigating major crime inicidents
- That the police chief utilize a sudden death checklist for supervisors to complete upon conclusion of a sudden death incident deemed non-criminal in nature
In a news release, the police force said the sudden death checklist has been implemented while the standard operating procedures and policy are in the process of being implemented.
“This type of process is not an easy one but at times necessary,” said police Chief Steph Drolet in a statement. “I am pleased to read in the report the NBPC is satisfied significant and permanent changes have been made by the SJPF in the investigation of major crime incidents.”
Our newsroom requested to speak with the New Brunswick Police Commission about the report. Executive director Jennifer Smith said no one would be made available for an interview.
The New Brunswick Police Commission has released its final report into the Richard Oland murder investigation.
It makes three recommendations: two for the Saint John Police Force, one for the Minister of Public Safety. pic.twitter.com/un40RgkUG5
— Brad Perry (@BradMPerry) May 29, 2020
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