The family of an Ontario man who died after calling 911 have been told they can’t lay out their concerns to officials overseeing local police.
For more than a year, Rick Buerger and Christine Stark have been fighting for answers about the death of their brother Ralph in the Niagara area.
Early on the morning of Aug. 30, 2024, Ralph called 911, apparently to ask for emergency help, unable to speak in a call that lasted 35 seconds.
The call did not trigger a wellness check from police or paramedics, and Ralph, 59, was found dead in the morning.
Since that day, Rick and Christine have been trying to work out why the police didn’t check on their brother They’ve requested investigations and are asking for changes to the system to stop a similar situation from ever occurring again.
The pair have found their quest for answers from Niagara Regional Police frustrating, feeling that barriers have been erected to slow them at every turn.
Police previously told the family they would have to use freedom of information laws to access a copy of the recording of the 911 call their brother made. After questions from Global News, the call was eventually released.
Police also refused to give the family a copy of an investigation into the incident that cleared the call operator and police of making a mistake when Ralph died.
The latest hurdle Rick says he faces is a refusal from the Niagara Police Service Board to allow him to share his story and the lessons he believes the force should learn.
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The police service board governs the force, sets its budget and makes broad policy decisions that the chief and other senior officers then implement.
Rick, who lives abroad, flew back to Ontario to present to the board early this year. He said he wanted to share the details of his brother’s death, how the police had handled it and two policy changes to avoid it ever being repeated.
Specifically, he wants to see regular hearing tests for 911 operators and the mandatory introduction of noise-cancelling headsets.
“We were told during (a) meeting that 911 call takers don’t go through any hearing tests, only when they’re hired,” he explained. “I said, ‘Wow, they should go through periodic tests.’”
Rick added he’d been told by senior police call takers also don’t have noice cancelling headphones.
“It’s impossible not to have a noise cancelling with one earpiece. But they told us they don’t have, so that’s what I put in the deputation,” he said. “Now, they don’t want that heard … they don’t want to have it because they know they’re going to get in sh**.”
The board has refused to let him speak at a meeting, citing various other ongoing complaints he has about his brother’s death.
Deb Reid, the executive director of the Niagara Police Service Board, told Global News the body had corresponded “extensively” with Rick and “clearly” explained why they cannot hear his concerns.
“The Board’s decision is not discretionary, nor is it intended to diminish his concerns,” Reid wrote. “It is based on the Board’s statutory obligations under the Community Safety and Policing Act.”
She said legislation requires complaints about police to be forwarded to other investigating bodies, meaning the events around Ralph’s death fall beyond the scope of the board.
Rick said he knew some parts of his presentation may need to be scrapped if they are seen to refer to ongoing investigations, but he would like to at least present on what he believes are urgent changes.
“They’re not even willing to do that,” he said.
Reid suggested that even if the presentation appears to deal with broader rules, it still links back to an active complaint.
“The resubmitted deputation request, although framed as policy, remains substantively connected to a matter under active external review,” she wrote.
Christine, Rick and Ralph sister, said the family had gone into the process hoping to make sure no one suffers the same tragedy they have.
“When we originally started this, I would have thought the police would have welcomed this because we were looking at trying to help them,” she said.
“We were trying to help them get policies in place, look at what the gaps were, what the areas of concern were, so this doesn’t happen to anyone else.”
The battles they’ve spent almost two years fighting have tested her resolve.
“Has this soured me? It has, I’m not going to lie,” Christine added.
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