Charges against officer 'exceptional and rare', says head of Manitoba investigation unit

The laying of manslaughter charges against a Manitoba police officer is a first in the province and a rarity in Canada, says a former Crownattorneywho now heads the Independent Investigation Unit.

There have been just five other cases in Canada where an investigation has led to an officer being charged with manslaughter or murder, said ZaneTessler,executive director of Manitoba's IIU, which became operational in June 2015.

"These types of charges are exceptional and rare in Canada," he said.

Manitoba's IIU announced on Thursday that RCMP Const. Abram Letkeman has been charged with manslaughter for a fatal police shooting in Thompson in 2015.

• Man dead, woman injured after police shooting in Thompson

Steven Campbell, 39, was shot and killed Nov. 21, 2015, after police fired at a vehicle he was driving. Shots also hit the mother of Campbell's daughter, causing serious injuries.

Letkeman, who wasarrestedMarch 1, isalso charged withcriminal negligence causingdeath, reckless discharge of a firearm,criminal negligence causing bodily harm anddangerous driving causing bodily harm.

• RCMPofficer charged with manslaughter in 2015 Thompson shooting
• Woman injured in fatal police-related shooting glad officer has been charged

Officer-involved shootings don't happen as often in Canada as they do in the United States,Tesslernoted. And when they do happen, they result in "very significant investigations."

"You want to be satisfied that a thorough investigation has been conducted and that there are reasonable and probable grounds at the conclusion to determine whether charges should be authorized or not," he said.

"And in this particular case, there were sufficient grounds."

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He says each IIU investigation is evaluated on its own merits, facts and circumstances, andinvestigators take each case extremely seriously.

Letkemanhas been released on bail and is due in a Thompson court on March 31.

The matter will be handled by Manitoba ProsecutionServiceand the IIU cannot comment further on the allegations,Tesslersaid.

The IIU investigates all serious incidents involving police officers in Manitoba, whether occurring on or off duty.Since it started, it has launched44 investigations and concluded 21.

• Manitoba launches unit to investigate serious incidents involving police

Three investigations have resulted in charges against four officers. Those against Letkeman are the most serious.

The others include two Brandon police officers charged last month withdriving offences one for careless driving and the other with imprudent driving.

• Brandon police officers charged with driving offences by IIU

The other incident andthe first time charges were laid against an officerwas in October 2015when an RCMP officer in The Pas, Man.,was charged with assault.

It was a domestic incident that allegedly happened while the officerwas off duty.

• Mountie charged with assault in The Pas domestic incident