IIO clears police in Langley man's death as family pushes for policy changes

British Columbia's police watchdog has cleared RCMP officers of wrongdoing after a Langley man died in a fire following a wellness check and hours-long standoff with police, during which he shot towards officers.

It happened at a rural property in south Langley in November 2023, after the man’s employer called police to say he was distraught and had made concerning comments.

According to his family, Don Bennett, 66 years old at the time, was an avid horseman and an outgoing and gregarious father and grandfather.

“Family should have been the first phone call,” daughter Nicky Bennett said in an interview at her home after she reviewed the Independent Investigations Office of B.C.’s report clearing police.

The report details how arriving officers received no response when they got to Bennett’s property and thought he may already be deceased inside.

As they attempted to enter his home to check, the officers came under rifle fire, so they retreated and called the Emergency Response Team, comprised of more heavily armed police who utilize special weapons and tactics.

The IIO report says the standoff continued for several hours, with more gunfire coming from inside the home during that time, before Bennett eventually started a fire that would consume the entire building and take his life.

“Nothing that police involved in this matter did (or did not) do caused (the affected person’s) death, which was the result solely of his own decisions and actions,” the IIO concludes.

But McIntosh thinks there are aspects to what transpired that go beyond the IIO’s mandate for determining blame.

"Yes, the RCMP may have followed everything down to the letter, but clearly the policies and procedures need to change in some way so that these things can be dealt with more delicately,” she said about police involvement in mental health situations.

McIntosh would like to see trained mental health professionals join police when officers are conducting wellness checks – and she thinks family members of distraught people should be contacted immediately in similar situations.

In this case, relatives were not called until more than seven hours after the standoff began.

"Somebody would have gone over there to be like, ‘Hey, what's going on? Are you OK?’ And that, in my mind, should have been the first step,” she said.

In many cases, in its reports, the IIO avoids detailing certain police tactics used in specific circumstances.

“After ERT members took over containment of the scene, they formulated contingency plans and used specialized techniques that will not be described in detail here,” the IIO said in its report into Bennett’s death.

According to McIntosh, the RCMP actually blocked calls to and from Bennett’s cellphone during the standoff – meaning he couldn’t reach out to loved ones for help while distraught and suicidal.

While it’s too late for her family, McIntosh thinks an overhaul of police policy could help prevent future tragedies.

"There's so many of these cases. Since my dad passed away, I've had a lot of people reach out to me who have family members who have been through very similar circumstances,” she said.