The chief of the Vancouver Police Department has issued a statement following the conclusion of a B.C. coroner's inquest into Myles Gray's death – but it does not mention the jury's ruling that Gray's death after a beating by officers was a homicide.
That verdict, along with recommendations for preventing future deaths in similar circumstances, was delivered Monday after a two-week inquest that heard from dozens of witnesses. The determination that Gray's death was a homicide does not assign blame or find fault and does not denote criminality. It means that someone died due to injury intentionally inflicted by another person, the chief coroner noted while instructing the jury.
VPD Chief Const. Adam Palmer issued the statement Tuesday, after declining all requests for an interview on the case. Titled "Statement from Chief Const. Adam Palmer on Coroner's Inquest verdict," it opens by offering condolences to Gray's family and all who loved him.
"We recognize that nothing can change the events that transpired the day Myles died, and no words can take away the pain and sorrow from his family. We hope the coroner's inquest has given them the answers they have sought since he died nearly eight years ago on Aug. 13, 2015," Palmer wrote.
Upon hearing about Palmer’s statement, Melissa Gray, Myles Gray’s sister, told CTV News he has not personally reached out to any members of her family.
"Not him or anybody. For eight years,” Gray said. “And now that it's a homicide he's offering his condolences. Wow."
The initial 911 call that brought Gray into contact with police nearly eight years ago was about an erratic man who had sprayed a woman with a garden hose and was acting threateningly.
The first officer on scene testified Gray attempted to intimidate her, so she called for backup.
In all, seven police officers participated in the attempted arrest, with many of them testifying they kicked and punched Gray and used knee and baton strikes on him.
Once Gray had his hands cuffed behind his back and his feet bound together with a device called a hobble, officers continued to hold Gray down until they realized he had stopped breathing. His injuries included bleeding in his brain, a fractured larynx, a dislocated jaw and ruptured testicles.
Palmer's statement says Gray's death "had a profound and lasting impact on everyone involved" and thanks those who testified, including police officers "who waited nearly eight years to share their stories."
Two recommendations made by the jury were to equip Vancouver officers with body-worn cameras and for the department to fully review and look at ways to enhance its crisis de-escalation training program.
Work on those fronts, Palmer said, is already being done.
"These recommendations build on processes that are currently in place or are substantially underway," he wrote, noting the recent approval of a pilot program that will outfit officers with body cameras in the "near future."
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim, at a media availability, was asked to comment on the outcome of the inquest Tuesday.
"It was an incredibly tragic situation that happened and our hearts and our thoughts go to Mr. Gray's family, his loved ones, his friends," he said.
Asked specifically about the fact that the officers involved remain on duty, he said it would be "unfair" for him to comment on that without first consulting with the Vancouver Police Board.
All seven officers that took part in the beating remain on the job, and some have special assignments.
One is a VPD use of force instructor and another works in Car 87, which responds to calls about people in mental health crises.
Sim, like Palmer, noted that council has already made moves toward equipping the city's police officers with body cameras by 2025, which was one of Sim's campaign promises.
With files from CTV News Vancouver's Ben Miljure
