The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal has dismissed a case against the New Westminster Police Service.
A ruling released Tuesday says the tribunal will no go forward with the case of a local unnamed woman who claimed New Westminster police discriminated against her on the basis of mental disability, a violation of the B.C. Human Rights Code.
Tribunal member Tonie Beharrell wrote in the tribunal's decision that there was "no reasonable prospect the complaint will succeed based on all the information available."
The woman had a long and troubled history with New Westminster police as well as other provincial government and regulatory bodies. She alleged police treated her differently than they would anyone else by doing such things as visiting her at her apartment when she had not called them, not returning her phone calls or not taking her complaints seriously, disclosing to others that she suffered from mental illness, and not opening criminal investigations at her request.
One such incident stemmed from the police service' decision to not open a criminal investigation when the woman complained to police that the chlorine levels in the Canada Games Pool were too high.
The decision notes that the woman filed six complaints with the Office of Police Complaints Commissioner, all of which were dismissed by the commissioner on the grounds that further investigation would not find evidence of a public trust default.
The woman has also filed numerous complaints with her doctor, the public library, and the College of Physicians and Surgeons, some of which resulted in visits from the police after individuals called to say they found the woman threatening.
"I accept that the complainant is highly suspicious of, and highly dissatisfied with,
her treatment by the (New Westminster police.) However, I find that there is no reasonable prospect that the complainant will succeed in establishing that the conduct at issue was discriminatory," Beharrell wrote in her decision
In order to find that the woman's rights had been violated, the tribunal would have to conclude that police perceived her as having a mental disability, that police treated her adversely and that her mental disability caused the adverse treatment.
Beharrell wrote that none of those was the case. Instead, Beharrell noted that police "must make assessments based on the information they are given and all of the surrounding circumstances."
New Westminster Police Service has declined to comment on the tribunal's decision.
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