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Family blames police

Brandon police officers face dismissal in handling of Tootoo case

Darrell Greer
Northern News Services

Rankin Inlet (Oct 14/02) - Two officers could be facing dismissal from The Brandon Police Service in connection with the death of Rankin Inlet's Terence Tootoo.

An internal investigation concluded the two officers violated procedure by dropping Tootoo, 22, off alone at his temporary residence on the night of Aug. 28, after charging him with impaired driving.

Tootoo should have been released to a responsible adult.

His body was found the next day with a 12-gauge shotgun by its side.

The outcome of an internal disciplinary hearing will be released after Oct. 25.

The officers face anything from a verbal reprimand to outright dismissal.

Tootoo's mother, Rose, says the family is both relieved to hear the officers are being reprimanded and angry over their actions.

"I'm not going to hold back on how I feel," says Rose.

"I hope they lose their jobs."

Rose is adamant her son would still be alive if the two officers had followed proper procedure.

"The bottom line is they're the ones who killed our son.

"Terence took his own life, yes, but if those guys had kept him overnight at the station instead of just dropping him off things would have been different."

Rose's voice begins to shake as she talks about what's been written about her son since that fateful night.

As the tears begin to flow, she pauses and tries to compose herself.

After a moment's silence, she continues on, her voice barely audible, still filled with a mother's pain over the loss of her son.

"Everybody's been saying Terence took his own life because he felt he had shamed his people and all the young children who looked up to him, but no one knows what ran through his mind.

"We'll never know what he was thinking."

Gaining her composure one last time before being overcome with grief and unable to continue, Rose says things may have worked out differently had the two officers been more experienced.

"We've been told they're both in their mid-20s with only three or four years of police experience.

"Had they been older, maybe they would have known better than to let Terence go on his own.

"But, my goodness, that's no excuse. When you're a police officer, you're supposed to know the proper procedures to follow."