The fatal police shooting of a man in Vancouver has prompted calls for officers to wear body-mounted cameras at all times.
The shooting happened Thursday evening on Vancouver’s downtown eastside, when police opened fire on a stabbing suspect, killing him.
Video obtained by CTV News shows the suspect staggering after police first shoot him with non-lethal beanbags. Then the suspect leans down to scoop up the knife and runs behind a police car, out of the camera’s view.
A series of five shots can be heard, and then a man’s voice yells, "You killed him!"
Witnesses say the suspect stabbed a woman while out of view, and that’s when police fired their weapons.
The woman is currently in hospital, and two men were also treated for stabbing wounds, police said.
British Columbia's police watchdog, the Independent Investigations Office, is now reviewing the shooting.
The incident has triggered calls for police to wear body-mounted cameras at all times. Advocates say this move would provide the evidence necessary to hold both police and the public accountable in deadly situations.
Doug King, a lawyer at the Pivot Legal Society, said the footage of Thursday’s incident proves video is a powerful tool for reviewing police shootings.
"Video like that, I think, is really helpful in all circumstances to be able to analyze whether what happened was correct and where we go from here," King said.
Pivot Legal Society is calling for Vancouver police to begin using body-mounted cameras at all times. The city’s police department has already begun testing this technology, as have officers in Toronto, Edmonton, and Victoria.
But not everybody believes body cameras are a good idea. A February report by Canada’s privacy commissioner raised concerns about constant video recording.
"(Body-worn cameras) can record video images, sound and conversations with a high degree of clarity," the report said, noting that there may be legal concerns about whether body-camera use "intrudes on the public's reasonable expectation of privacy."
But Pivot Legal Society argues the advantages of increased police accountability are worth it.
"The benefits we get in police accountability will ultimately outweigh those problems that we have with privacy," King said.
With a report from CTV Vancouver's Tom Popyk
