Inappropriate intervention and inaccurate analysis of the situation may have cost Valérie Gignac her life

The CSST tables its report on the death of the Laval police Constable

That's the conclusion drawn by the investigation conducted by the Quebec Work Health and Safety Commission (La Commission de la santé et la sécurité du travail) more familiarly known by its French call letters - CSST. The Laval police officer was shot to death on December 14, 2005.

On that day, Constable Gignac and a colleague answered a call concerning an individual believed to be in a state of severe agitation, François Pépin, who was creating a ruckus in his apartment.

Arriving at the scene, the two officers knocked on Pepin's door, identified themselves, and demanded that he open the door.

He refused, at which time Constable Gignac informed him she would break down the door if he didn't open it. Pepin answered by saying that she should go away.

The police officer then stationed herself in front of the door and tried, without success, to break in by kicking at the door handle.

It was as her foot came down that two shots came through the door, one of which fatally wounded her.

To the contrary, since a line of communication had already been established, the police officer should have maintained the dialogue with the aim of having Pépin open the door himself.

"The technique that was applied, that is - dynamic (forced) entry - was not called for in the situation and thus it has to be assessed as inappropriate," reads the CSST report.

"Having never had any training in how to break through doors safely, the police Constables who must do it in the course of their patrols end up using whatever means they think will work. They improvise according to their particular circumstances," the report specifies.

On a previous occasion, the same two Constables had arrested the same individual following a long period of negotiation, after which he opened the door on his own. From this experience, the two officers should have done the same on that fatal day, since the individual was alone in the apartment.

Consequent to its investigation and report, the CSST ordered the Laval Police Department to train its officers in proper methods of intervention and in techniques for breaking through doors safely.

"After the Valérie Gignac incident, all our police officers received this training," states Lt. Daniel Guérin of the Laval Police Department. "Everyone was shown all the proper ways of breaking down doors, depending on different circumstances."

The Quebec police academy (in Nicolet) and the Quebec Ministry of Public Security were also forwarded the recommendations of the CSST report, so that they too can implement concrete measures.

François Pépin was sentenced to life imprisonment last May, after pleading guilty to murder. Under the sentence, he's not eligible for parole for 12 years.

Photo:AngVal 1, AngVal 2

(Photo: Martin Alarie)