Putting officer who killed Chantel Moore back on job a tone-deaf move, criminologist says
The decision to bring the Edmundston police officer who shot and killed Chantel Moore back to work, even on desk duty, was surprising to a St.Thomas University criminal justice professor.
Given the outrage surrounding the shooting and public pressure to look into the case, Prof. Michael Boudreau said he wasn't expecting the officer would be allowed to return to work so soon.
"It may speak to a level of tone deafness on the part of the Edmundston police force as well," Boudreau told Information Morning Fredericton on Monday.
He said the move also restores the spotlight on a fatal police shooting that drew national attention when it happened, which was during nationwide protests over police treatment of people who aren't white.
Boudreau said he wants to know why the decision was made, because unless there was a staffing problem, it doesn't make sense.
Moore, a 26-year-old Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation woman, was shot by the unnamed officer during a wellness check in Edmundston on June 4. Moore grew up on Vancouver Island and recently moved to New Brunswick to be with her mother and six-year-old daughter, Gracie.
The officer was initially placed on paid leave while the shooting is investigated by an independent agency from Quebec, the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes.
The only reason Boudreau could see for bringing the officer back would be if the Edmundston force was extremely understaffed and needed someone to do administrative work to free up another officer for active duty.
The force has not commented on the shooting because of the investigation and would do no more than confirm the officer returned to work last week on administrative duty.
Boureau said that for the investigation to remain independent there should be no public input from the police, but the decision by Edmundston's chief of police can lead to presumptions by the public.
Chantel Moore's family was also upset by the officer's return to work and has called for his removal from the police force.
"The irony is, is that by bringing him back, the perception is that the chief believes that he is innocent, didn't do anything wrong on that fateful evening," Boudreau said.
As it is, he said, it's hard to believe the investigation can be independent.
"Half of the investigators from the Quebec watchdog are former police officers. So you still have police investigating police so it's not truly independent."
Since it was established in 2016, none of BEIQ's investigations where civilians have been seriously injured or killed have resulted in charges against a police officer, he said.
Boudreau said once the investigation is complete and the Quebec agency makes its recommendations, it will be up to Edmundston Chief Alain Lange, to decide the next steps and whether to release the report.
"Ultimately, we need to know what happened and more importantly, Chantel Moore's family needs to know what happened. Even if the police are not going to release it to the public, they should at the bare minimum, release it to the family."
CBC News requested an interview with Jake Stewart, New Brunswick's Aboriginal affairs minister and received an emailed response from his office saying it would be inappropriate for him to comment during the ongoing investigation.
Bob Davidson, executive director of the New Brunswick Police Association, said assigning an officer to indoor work after an incident such as the shooting of Chantel Moore is normal procedure.
