Coroner’s jury wants better mental health support for Vancouver transit police
VANCOUVER — A coroner’s jury is recommending that transit police in the Vancouver area work more closely with mental health providers following the death of a man who repeatedly stabbed himself and was shot by an officer at a grocery store more than two years ago.
Naverone Woods, 23, was shot by a transit police officer inside a Safeway store in Surrey, B.C., on the morning of Dec. 28, 2014. He was a member of the Gitxsan First Nation who had lived in Terrace and Hazelton in northern British Columbia.
The coroner’s jury heard three days of testimony and made eight recommendations Wednesday to try and prevent similar fatalities in the future.
It recommended that transit police implement a program similar to the RCMP’s Car 67 initiative in Surrey, which allows Mounties and a clinical nurse specializing in mental health to work together in responding to calls involving people suffering emotional problems.