The family of Jordon Lafond is calling for legislative changes to the Police Act, wanting an independent oversight committee created to investigate police-involved incidents or deaths.
Lafond was killed following a police chase in Saskatoon in October 2016.
He was a passenger in a stolen truck which crashed.
Police claim he was resisting arrest took three or four knee strikes to the head by an officer.
The officers were cleared of charges, following an investigation by Saskatoon police. “
We have seen it for many years; police officers investigating themselves and it’s time we have an independent oversight authority step in and take over these types of investigations” says Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations Vice Chief Dutch Lerat. “This family is suffering through the loss of a son, a father, a friend. They deserve answers and not from a police officer who investigated one of their own.”
Lafond’s death was ruled accidental by an Inquest jury.
“It has been a hard few years for this family and our community stands in support of their calls for justice and change” says Mistawasis Nehiyawak Chief Daryl Watson. “We cannot stand idly by when officers investigate themselves in investigations such as the death of Jordan Lafond. There must be independent civilian-led authority oversight like other provincial jurisdictions.”