B.C. Mountie ‘likely crossed criminal negligence threshold’ in failed wellness check [Video]

British Columbia’s police oversight agency says a Kelowna RCMP officer “quite likely crossed the criminal negligence threshold” when his attempt to conduct a wellness check on a man who was later found dead was thwarted because the officer couldn’t find the buzzer number for the man’s apartment.

The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. issued its report into the matter Thursday. While the report strongly condemns the Mountie’s actions, it does not refer the case to prosecutors for potential criminal charges because evidence from the coroner indicates the man was “very likely already dead” when the wellness check was conducted.

The police watchdog agency instead referred the case to the RCMP’s professional standards branch, saying the unnamed officer’s inaction “may well constitute a breach of RCMP policy and practice.”

According to the IIO’s narrative of the incident, a woman who lives outside the province called the Kelowna RCMP on Jan. 10 …