Charlottetown officers didn’t do enough to help Tyler Knockwood, his widow’s lawyer says | CBC News
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Warning: This story deals with serious mental health concerns and suicide. Resources and supports can be found at the bottom of this story.
It’s now a week into a public police conduct hearing into the death of 34-year-old Tyler Knockwood, and the lawyer representing his widow says responding officers did not do enough to help him.
The hearing is believed to be the first of its kind for Prince Edward Island. After it concludes, an adjudicator will determine whether six Charlottetown Police Services officers who interacted with Knockwood the day before he died by suicide were neglectful in their duties.
CBC News is not naming the police officers involved until adjudicators rule on their conduct.
Knockwood died in January 2023 at Province House, the historic seat of the P.E.I. Legislature in Charlottetown, where he had been among those working to restore the building.
City police were called to his house four times in the 24 hours before he took his own life.
During the hearing, police witnesses repeatedly said they didn’t think Knockwood was in a mental health crisis. Officers testified that Knockwood didn’t meet the criteria to be apprehended under P.E.I.’s Mental Health Act.
The last call to Knockwood’s home was to issue an emergency protection order and remove him from the residence. An officer testified he found Knockwood locked in his unfinished basement, but said he was “very composed, articulate and polite.”
Lawyers for the police officers established that the officers had training and experience in dealing with mental health calls.
But the lawyer for Laura MacArthur, Knockwood’s widow, said the officers’ investigations were not thorough enough.
Asha James noted Friday during the hearing that Knockwood had locked himself in his basement at home that day. She said he was experiencing a mental health episode that included him accusing MacArthur of poisoning the air and water.
“There were some clear indications that Tyler wasn’t well and that he was someone in need of help,” James said in an interview with CBC News.
She said the responding officers knew other officers had been also been in contact with Knockwood throughout the day.
“When you’re now, you know, the second and third people dealing with the same individual on the same day in the span of … six hours, more questions should be asked,” James said.
“They didn’t do enough.… Tyler was somebody who was in need of assistance. His family was trying to get him assistance. The social worker thought that something wasn’t right with him, and [the officers] didn’t act on it.”
A public hearing looking into police conduct continues in Charlottetown, and Wednesday it heard from some of the city officers about how they dealt with Tyler Knockwood and his family the day before he took his own life. CBC’s Laura Meader reports.
Police testified that Knockwood was removed from his home, but that he refused mental health resources and didn’t pack a bag.
Officers dropped him off at a hotel in downtown Charlottetown, then left. Staff from the hotel testified that Knockwood didn’t get a room because his credit card was declined.
Staff at the provincially run Community Outreach Centre said Knockwood spoke to them briefly there, but he didn’t say what help he needed.
The next morning police would get a call that Knockwood had died by suicide at Province House.
The first day of the police conduct hearing on Monday saw MacArthur describe her husband’s erratic behaviour in the days leading up to his death.
She said Knockwood had become increasingly agitated and paranoid, and that he had gone to the hospital a few days prior because he had harmed himself.
MacArthur told the hearing she called police and filed for an emergency protection order when Knockwood became aggressive, but she said police didn’t listen when she attempted to explain his mental health history to them.
Wednesday’s session went into depth on the police officers’ lack of note taking during their interactions with Knockwood. James stressed that the officers did not do a thorough investigation and failed to attain statements from MacArthur and other family members.
She questioned why the officers’ final reports about interactions with Knockwood were missing what she felt were details that should have been noted.
James said it was not a question of whether officers offered Knockwood the opportunity to go to hospital, but rather if they should have apprehended him for his safety or the safety of others.
The hearing has wrapped up for now. Lawyers will return next month to present their final arguments, though a decision from the adjudicator isn’t expected for a few months.
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