The radio network the RCMP were using on the night of Const. David Wynn’s death in 2015 were not working and still do not work inside what is now named the Century Casino.
John Bennett, the RCMP member who conducted a review of the incident that led to Wynn's death, testified at a fatality inquiry Thursday that the casino is one of a list of "dead zones" inside the city and across the province. The radios used that night were mechanically sound but could not transmit information because of the radio network.
The second day of the inquiry into the deaths of Const. David Wynn and Shawn Rehn, the man who shot him and eventually killed himself, began Thursday morning.
Bennett testified the radio problem is not isolated to St. Albert – radio communications rely on varying factors, including areas of coverage.Bennett said since the incident in January 2015, St. Albert RMCP officers have been given cell phones to use any time they are entering these known dead zones, which he characterized as a “mitigation strategy.”
The RCMP have also created a policy that anyone entering a radio dead zone must call for backup and have a multiple member response before they enter an area where communications are going to be compromised.
Since the incident, an digital radio system known as the Alberta First Responders Radio Communications System (AFRRCS) has been rolling out across the province, which will help make communications more co-ordinated and clear between emergency responders.
“I am aware that the RCMP ... have undertaken a large project to expand and upgrade the radio system,” Bennett said.
St. Albert was slated to have the AFRRCS system roll out in April 2019 but that date has been pushed back to October 2019.
Bennett said he is not aware if the radios have been tested for dead zones in St. Albert and not aware if they will work inside the Century Casino, formerly known as the Apex Casino.
While reviewing the incident, Bennett found that the RCMP did not follow protocol by sending Auxiliary Const. Derek Bond into the casino that night. Bond suffered injuries after being shot by Rehn.
Auxiliary constables were not to be used in an operational role, but Bennett added that changing that action was “unlikely to have changed the tragic sequence of events” that unfolded that night.
Since the incident, the role of auxiliary constables have been reviewed across Canada and new standards have been put in place for them.
Bennett also found that the surrounding of the house containing Shawn Rehn and the attempts to get him to surrender peacefully were done to “textbook” compliance with procedures and policies.
Bennett testified that nothing he found during his review of the lead-up to the shooting at the casino, events at the casino and events following leading to the suicide of Rehn would have materially affected the outcome of the situation.
