Officers involved in Myles Gray arrest facing disciplinary proceeding

A disciplinary proceeding has been ordered for the Vancouver police officers involved in the violent 2015 arrest of Myles Gray, which ended in the 33-year-old's death.

B.C.'s Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner confirmed a years-long investigation into the officers' conduct has concluded, and that the matter will be moving to a disciplinary proceeding at an unconfirmed date.

That process will not be open to the public.

Once the proceeding has finished, the designated discipline authority, Chief Officer David Jones of the Metro Vancouver Transit Police, will determine whether any of the officers committed misconduct – and if so, what penalty they should face.

"The discipline authority may impose a range of disciplinary or corrective measures, up to and including dismissal," Deputy Police Complaint Commissioner Andrea Spindler said in an email.

The Police Act investigation was conducted by the RCMP as an external policing agency. A report on the findings delivered to the OPCC has not been made public.

NO CRIMINAL CHARGES

Gray's death was previously investigated by B.C.'s police watchdog, the Independent Investigations Office, which faced pushback from law enforcement while trying to get answers about what happened. At one point, the IIO had to file a court petition to compel an officer's co-operation.

The watchdog ultimately submitted a report to Crown for the consideration of charges in 2019, but nearly two years later, the B.C. Prosecution Service said the available evidence did not meet its charge assessment standards.

The only witnesses to Gray's death were the officers on scene, and the BCPS said they provided "incomplete and, in several respects, inconsistent accounts of the detail and sequence of events" surrounding the incident.

Gray suffered an array of serious injuries during an altercation with police – including broken bones, a dislocated jaw, and hemorrhaging in his brain and testicles – before going into cardiac arrest while both handcuffed and hobbled at his ankles.

An autopsy was unable to determine Gray’s cause of death, but found it probable that he died from a number of factors that could have included his various injuries from police, the fact that he had a slightly enlarged heart, and the presence of kratom – a plant-based substance that can act as a stimulant – in his system.

The OPCC investigation could not begin until the IIO's investigation was completed, and the processes differ in a number of ways – including that officers in misconduct probes are required to co-operate with investigators, while those facing potential criminal charges are not.

The B.C. Coroner's Service has also ordered an inquest into Gray's death, beginning on April 17. Coroner's inquests are fact-finding exercises that hear evidence and sworn testimony from witnesses, but make no findings of legal responsibility.