What Went Wrong? Anatomy of a Less-than-Perfect Investigation

This webinar discusses issues that are relevant to anyone involved in any aspect of an investigation, in any investigative field.  

It dissects a Canadian investigation of a fatal police shooting in 2015 that, like every other investigation, was less than perfect. The death – and the investigation – was the subject of a 2017 judicial Commission of Inquiry (CoI) that received national attention in Canada. The incident raised professional conduct, health and safety and possible systemic policy and training issues. 

 We use lots of material sourced directly from the CoI, covering what went wrong and right with the investigation, step by step.

The focus of the presentation is whether the investigation met fundamental investigative principles, including independence, the thoroughness of the evidence gathering, the quality of investigative interviews and objectivity throughout the investigative process.

Key areas

• Fundamental investigative principles
• The mindset required to conduct an investigation
• Investigative interviews
• The importance of gathering crucial digitally-stored evidence
• Imbalances in the treatment of involved parties
• What was done well
• What happened when the investigators got into the witness box at the CoI
• Why parts of the investigation did not withstand scrutiny – and the lessons anyone engaged in any kind of investigation can learn.

This session was originally presented during the MyKludo Virtual Investigations Conference held 6-8 December 2021.