RCMP officer didn't investigate; Daughter found dying...

[R. LaCasse]

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From: "Dennis & Hazel Young"
Subject: RCMP officer didn't investigate; Daughter found dying...

... 4 days after 911 call

CBC - RCMP officer 'scornful' of shooting report, mom says
Daughter found dying 4 days after 911 call, which officer didn't get out of
his car to investigate
CBC News - Last Updated: Oct 13, 2011 3:32 AM PT Comments 355
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/10/12/bc-rcmp-reco
rding-slayings-allegation.html

The parents of a woman slain in Mission, B.C., say they have a new reason to
believe the conduct of an RCMP officer cost their daughter her life - an
audio recording of the 911 call, which they've exclusively released to the
CBC.

Mark and Rosemarie Surakka have received an audio recording that the RCMP
was compelled to turn over to them which the couple says reveals a careless
attitude by the investigating RCMP officer. The Surakkas' daughter, Lisa
Dudley, and her boyfriend, Guthrie Jolan McKay, were shot in their home in
the Fraser Valley community, east of Vancouver, on Sept. 18, 2008. But
police didn't discover the victims until days later.

Immediately after the shootings, Dudley's neighbour called the RCMP to
report he'd heard several gunshots and the sound of a crash coming from the
home. The officer who responded, Const. Mike White, soon arrived near the
property, but never got out of his car and did not talk to the man who'd
made the 911 call. White left the scene a few minutes later, reporting he'd
found nothing suspicious.

Died en route to hospital

Four days after the gunshots were heard, another neighbour peered into the
house through a window and saw the body of McKay, 33. Paramedics were called
and found Dudley, 37, still alive, but she died before reaching the
hospital. At a disciplinary hearing earlier this year, White suggested he
never spoke to the neighbour who'd called 911 because he had trouble
locating the man's house in the heavily treed neighbourhood that had many
gated driveways.

A recording of a phone conversation White had with a police dispatcher at
the time was not part of the evidence. The Commission for Public Complaints
Against the RCMP only released the recording to Dudley's family after the
office of Canada's Information Commissioner threatened court action to order
the force to turn the recording over.

The transcript reveals a light-hearted tone in the conversation between
White and the RCMP dispatcher.
Dispatcher: Radio. Theresa.
White: Hello.
Dispatcher: Hi.
White: "Six gunshots in a row and a crash."
Dispatcher: Yeah
White: (sound of chuckling)
Dispatcher: Yeah, exactly.
White: (sound of chuckling)
Dispatcher: Don't ya love this?
White: Yeah, I'll head out.

"It was almost a scornful laugh," said Dudley's mother, Rosemarie Surakka,
told CBC News after hearing the recording. "In my heart, it confirmed
[White] had no intention of doing anything."

Surakka said White should have gotten out of his vehicle or at least have
spoken with the 911caller. "It would have been different, I know it would
have. Lisa would have lived, I know she would have lived," her mother said.
The phone call should have been considered at White's hearing, said Dudley's
stepfather. "We don't feel there was any intent really to hold him
accountable," Mark Surakka said.

RCMP procedure changes

RCMP spokesman Sgt. Rob Vermeulen said that since the incident, all members
have been reminded they must speak to complainants when investigating a
similar call. "We can't change what's happened, unfortunately, but we can
try to ensure it doesn't ever happen again," Vermeulen said. So far, three
people have been arrested and charged in connection with the slayings of
Dudley and MacKay, which police said were targeted killings.

At his RCMP disciplinary hearing, White said he was "disappointed" with his
actions that night and was also disappointed his name had been "associated
negatively" with the incident. White eventually admitted to disgraceful
conduct, received a reprimand and was docked one day's pay. He since has
been promoted to corporal.
With files from the CBC's Curt Petrovich


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See also
Lisa Cheryl Dudley: Reason #3 to Dump the BC RCMP
http://christopherdiarmani.com/3833/police-misconduct/lisa-cheryl-dudley-reason-3-dump-bc-rcmp/
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