Thunder Bay Police Service (TBPS) Staff Sergeant Shawn Harrison was found guilty of discreditable conduct and neglect of duty in the death investigation of Stacy DeBungee.
In his decision released Tuesday, Hearing Officer Greg Walton also found Sargeant Shawn Whipple not guilty of both offences.
“There is no doubt whatsoever in my mind that Staff Sergeant Harrison decided very early on that the death was nonsuspicious,” stated Walton. “I am equally convinced that because the deceased person was Indigenous, found in a river where other Indigenous men had been found drowned, with a high level of alcohol in their system, he assumed the very same circumstances must have therefore existed in this case.”
During the hearing, Harrison agreed with a suggestion from prosecutor Joel Dubois that he developed a close-minded approach and had tunnel vision during the investigation.
Harrison said it was a mistake that he turned down a meeting with retired Toronto Police officer Dave Perry, which led him to plead guilty to failing to perform duties according to the Police Services Act.
“My family and I are pleased that there is finally some accountability for the way Stacy’s investigation was handled,” stated Brad DeBungee. “We have had to fight the Thunder Bay Police Service every step of the way to ensure accountability for Stacy. He deserved to have a proper death investigation. We deserved to know what happened to our brother.”
A penalty hearing for Staff Sergeant Harrison will be held in September.
DeBungee’s passing was singled out in a 2018 Broken Trust report with claims of how cases involving Indigenous people are handled by police.
