Conduct Case MPCC 2018‑009 Summary
The complaint in this case stems from a 911 emergency response to the complainant’s residence, located in a military housing unit on a Canadian Forces base. Military police members found the complainant in a state of semi-consciousness, attributed to an overdose of drugs and/or prescription medication. The complainant was taken by ambulance to the nearest civilian hospital for emergency treatment.
The complainant states, among other things, that the military police searched her personal documents and cell phone without her consent; that an inaccurate and incomplete report was made to the provincial child protection agency following the intervention; that one of the subject military police members communicated directly with her spouse and insisted that he go to the scene of the intervention while accompanied by the couple’s children; and that one of the subject military police members recorded false information in her police notebook and falsified the police report with her colleagues.
The Military Police Complaints Commission (MPCC) concluded that the complainant’s allegations were not substantiated. With respect to the searches conducted during the intervention, the MPCC found that they were reasonable because 1) the searches were carried out to find information to assist a person in distress; and 2) to determine what relevant information, if any, the military police could provide to emergency medical staff to assist in the treatment of the complainant.
The MPCC did, however, make one recommendation and one observation to the Canadian Forces Provost Marshal (CFPM). It recommended that the Canadian Forces Military Police Orders include a requirement for military police members to record in their notes any information it provides to a children’s protection agency when a report is made. As well, the MPCC observed that the CFPM should have a system for safeguarding recordings of interviews conducted during military police investigations.
The CFPM did not accept the recommendation, indicating that not all circumstances requiring documentation of military police actions could be included in military police orders.
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