Police watchdog investigating Vernon RCMP after ‘serious harm’ allegation

The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. is investigating after a person was seriously harmed while in police custody in Vernon on Saturday, May 16.

The incident happened on May 16, and the individual was seriously harmed but no other details of the incident have been released.

Independent Investigations Office chief civilian director Ron MacDonald confirmed for iNFOnews.ca an incident happened in Vernon and said they were currently investigating. MacDonald said it was not yet clear whether the incident was serious enough to fall within their jurisdiction and they were currently assessing whether a full investigation is required.

"This is one of those cases where we believe the actions of police were involved, however, we're not certain that the medical harm meets the definition of serious harm… and because it may not be anything we ever get involved in at this point, we won't be releasing any facts on it," he said.

The Independent Investigations Office is a civilian-led police watchdog, responsible for conducting investigations into incidents of death or serious harm that may have been the result of the police.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Ben Bulmer or call (250) 309-5230 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.