News Release
SIU Concludes Investigation into Death of Officer
Case Number: 06-OVD-083
Other News Releases Related to Case 06-OVD-083
On May 14, 2006, Cst Doucet and another officer were in a marked cruiser on routine patrol. The cruiser was traveling southbound on Black Road when it entered the intersection of Black and McNabb Streets at about 2:45 a.m. Almost simultaneously, a minivan that was traveling eastbound on McNabb, also entered the intersection and the two vehicles collided.
Cst Doucet was a passenger in the cruiser and suffered fatal injuries. The officer driving the police cruiser and the female driver of the van were not seriously injured.
The SIU investigation focused on the conduct of the officer driving the cruiser in relation to the collision. Upon review of the investigation, the SIU Director concluded that the evidence of independent civilian witnesses confirmed all of the other evidence that indicated the officer did not cause this tragic collision.
As a result of its investigation, the Ontario Provincial Police has charged the driver of the minivan with impaired driving. As this matter is now before the courts, the SIU cannot make any further comments pertaining to this investigation.
The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates the conduct of officials (police officers as well as special constables with the Niagara Parks Commission and peace officers with the Legislative Protective Service) that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault and/or the discharge of a firearm at a person. All investigations are conducted by SIU investigators who are civilians. Under the Special Investigations Unit Act, the Director of the SIU must
- consider whether the official has committed a criminal offence in connection with the incident under investigation
- depending on the evidence, cause a criminal charge to be laid against the official where grounds exist for doing so, or close the file without any charges being laid
- publicly report the results of its investigations