The family of a woman shot by an officer in Edmonton during a wellness check said her death was unnecessary, as the number of police shootings across Canada show little sign of relenting over the past four years.
“I see my daughter’s death as being a result of a complete mishandling of the tools available to law enforcement in the application of dealing with mental health issues,” the family of the woman, who has not been publicly identified, said in a statement from their lawyer, Tom Engel.
The resulting snapshot shows more officers firing their guns since 2020, when the high-profile murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis spurred global movements urging police accountability and transparency.
Criminologists say officers need more training and restraint, while the RCMP union said police have been forced to the front lines of Canada’s mental health crisis and face increasingly dangerous situations.
Sauve said police shootings in Canada remain rare compared to many other countries, but increasingly officers are encountering people with weapons.
Due to pressures on overburdened social programs, Sauve said officers are also being relied on to respond to mental health crises and issues with homelessness.
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