On October 19, 2015, Stacey DeBungee, an indigenous member of the Rainy River First Nation was found dead in Thunder Bay’s McIntyre Township. Staff Sergeant Shawn Harrison (Officer Harrison) was the lead investigator and six years later was found guilty of neglect of duty and discreditable conduct.[1] Officer Harrison was demoted to Sergeant for 18 months and required to complete Indigenous cultural competence training. He appealed the Hearing Officer’s findings and penalties to the Ontario Police Commission. Additionally, Brad DeBungee and Jim Leonard (family of Mr. DeBungee and Chief of the Rainy River First Nation) appealed the Hearing Officer’s penalty as they wanted Officer Harrison dismissed from the police service.
The court concluded that the Hearing Officer was owed deference and the Commission would not interfere or substitute the Commission’s findings and penalty to Officer Harrison in place of the Hearing Officer.[2]
Facts
The Thunder Bay Police Service received a call reporting a body found in the river. Officer Harrison, three uniformed constables, and a paramedic arrived and secured the scene. The scene was released the same day without following proper procedure such as next of kin notification or post-mortem report.
Officer Harrison’s assumptions were shown throughout his notebook despite scientific evidence disproving them. Officer Harrison wrote in his notebook that there were no obvious signs of trauma/foul play and released a press statement that the "initial investigation does not indicate a suspicious death." Officer Harrison made an assumption that Mr. DeBungee was drunk which caused his drowning. However, the coroner concluded that Mr. DeBungee’s intoxication was not the cause of his drowning.
There were other procedures and protocols that were not followed by Officer Harrison. A witness told one of the uniformed constables they saw two “Native Canadians” drinking and getting into a physical altercation, but Officer Harrison did not follow up. Instead of attending the next of kin notification, Officer Harrison sent two officers. A health card belonging to David Sapay was found at the scene but he was not interviewed by the TBSP until five months later.
Two months later, the deceased’s family decided to hire a private investigator due to the lack of confidence in the police investigation. David Perry, private investigator, conducted a thorough investigation that revealed evidence not found by the TBSP. Mr. Perry’s investigation found that the deceased's debit card was used after the body was recovered. He interviewed various people connected to the deceased - some who were contacted for the first time. Also, he tried to contact Officer Harrison and left his contact details but Officer Harrison did not get in contact with him. Officer Harrison held onto his belief that alcohol intoxication contributed to the death of Mr. DeBungee which called into question anti-indigenous bias within the TBSP.