Police probe clears seven Vancouver officers in beating death of Myles Gray

VANCOUVER — Seven Vancouver police officers involved in the beating death of Myles Gray nine years ago have been cleared of wrongdoing by a police discipline authority.

The Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner said it was reviewing the decision over the 2015 death of Gray, which was classified as a homicide by a coroner’s inquest last year.

A pathologist told the inquest Gray died of cardiopulmonary arrest, complicated by police actions including “neck compression,” blunt force injuries, the use of pepper spray and holding Gray on his stomach while his arms were handcuffed behind his back.

The commissioner said in a statement on Thursday that the discipline proceeding under Delta police Chief Neil Dubord found none of the officers committed misconduct and allegations of abuse of authority were not proven.

It said the complaints commissioner would now decide whether to seek a further review by a retired judge.

Gray, 33, suffered injuries including ruptured testicles and fractures in his eye socket, nose, voice box and ribs.

The initial 911 call on the day he died was about an agitated man who was behaving erratically and who had sprayed a woman with water from a garden hose.

Gray died in the backyard of a home in Burnaby, having been pursued there by Vancouver police after the initial altercation.

The complaints commissioner said Dubord’s investigation found allegations of neglect of duty, relating to “inadequate documentation” of the incident by police, were also not proven.

“The OPCC appreciates the significant toll this process has had on the family and all parties involved,” it said in Thursday’s statement after the conclusion of Dubord’s investigation, which lasted one year and seven months.

“We will be carefully reviewing the outcome of the discipline proceeding and the process which led us here and will release further information to the public once this review has been completed.”

After the coroner’s inquest last year, the Vancouver Police Department committed to adopting the jury’s recommendations, which included expediting the use of body-worn cameras for all patrol officers and enhanced crisis de-escalation training for officers, especially in situations involving a mental-health disturbance.

The jury’s homicide finding meant Gray’s death was due to injury intentionally inflicted by another person, but the presiding coroner said it was a neutral term that did not imply fault or blame.

The BC Prosecution Service announced in 2020 that it would not pursue charges against the officers involved in the struggle to arrest Gray, saying police were the only witnesses and the Crown couldn’t prove any offence had been committed.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 10, 2024.

The Canadian Press