Several Vancouver police officers are being investigated for allegations of "neglect of duty" in connection to the death of a 24-year-old Indigenous woman who was found dead in a wealthy Vancouver neighbourhood after being reported missing more than a year earlier.
The Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner of British Columbia (OPCC) confirmed it initiated an investigation in response to the missing person report on Chelsea Poorman.
Deputy police complaint commissioner Andrea Spindler says the New Westminster Police Department has been appointed to conduct an investigation under the Police Act into the conduct of the police officers.
"This investigation was initiated in 2022. In addition, the police complaint commissioner determined it to be in the public interest to move the role of the Discipline Authority from the police to a retired judge,” said Spindler.
Poorman disappeared on Sept. 6, 2020 after last being seen on Granville Street. Her partial skeletal remains were discovered outside a vacant multimillion-dollar home on Granville Street in Vancouver's upscale Shaughnessy neighbourhood on April 22, 2022.
Investigators believe Poorman died on the property the night she disappeared.
Police ruled her death not suspicious shortly after her remains were found. However, Poorman's family believes she was murdered.
"As this investigation remains ongoing, I am unable to provide further information at this time,” says Spindler.
"The OPCC will continue to provide independent civilian oversight of this investigation to ensure that these allegations are thoroughly investigated.”
The discipline authority in the investigations is typically senior police officers tasked with reviewing investigations and determining whether police committed misconduct in the first instance.
"Previously, the commissioner could only appoint a retired judge after a decision had been made by the discipline authority if we disagreed with the finding of no misconduct,” explains Spindler.
Now, the commissioner has the authority to appoint a retired judge sooner in the complaint process if it is considered to be in the public interest.
"We no longer have to wait until the senior police officer makes an initial determination,” says Spindler.
Poorman was a member of the Kawacatoose First Nation and had been with her sister two days earlier in downtown Vancouver.
The Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) released a statement after her death demanding a full investigation.
In a statement, UBCIC's secretary-treasurer Kukpi7 Judy Wilson said she stands with Poorman's family and friends and the broader Indigenous community in demanding that the VPD publicly apologize for their slow response to Poorman's missing persons report.
“The trauma they’ve inflicted on the family and community by their official statements about the case, and for informing the public at a press conference last week that the case is now closed,” Wilson said in May 2022.
UBCIC president Grand Chief Stewart Phillip said “Chelsea Poorman’s disappearance and death, without any trace ever turned up by the officials in charge, is a profound and absolute heartbreak that too many Indigenous families have endured."
The identity and names of the police officers being investigated have not been released.
