Postscript to the Reodica Inquest

Postscript to the Reodica Inquest

By Rose Bustamante

In less than fifteen minutes, the final session on the Reodica Inquest was completed in the afternoon of Friday, October 13, 2006. Coroner Bonita Porter read the seven recommendations of the inquest jury. The inquest was declared closed. Everybody rose and left.

The media coverage lasted longer outside the coroner’s court. All counsels involved in the case were interviewed as well as members and friends of the Reodica family,

In most inquests, parties concerned usually leave with a feeling of closure that all facts relating to the death have been revealed and that no circumstance surrounding the death was overlooked, concealed or ignored.

Has the Reodica Inquest brought closure to the Jeffrey’s family and the Filipino community? The answer is a big capital NO!

Let us have some points clear here:

1. ‘Did the members of the jury do their duty?

Yes, they did but their role was inhibited by the coroner’s instructions on what they are allowed to comment on or not,

2. Did the lawyers representing the Reodica family and the Community Alliance for Social Justice adequately handle the case?

Yes, more than adequately. They were brilliant – succinct, organized well informed about all aspects of the case and always prepared when they stood to do the cross-examinations. They deserve a heartfelt thank you. All the seven-jury recommendations were a part of these lawyers’ submissions. What was sad was the omission and the parts of the recommendations that were not allowed.

There were unforgettable incidents during the inquest that will always haunt everybody including the police officer that shot Jeffrey to death.

“He did not need to kill my son”, was the anguished cry of Jeffrey’s mother, Flora outside the coroner’s court after the police officer testified on June 23, 2006, that he shot the fleeing youth three times at the back.

That cry was proved to be justified by the testimonies of a use of force experts sometime in late September who explained that there were several options that could be used other than the gun. He explained that pepper spray and a baton as well as techniques in subduing someone who is being apprehend are some alternatives. He also mentioned that the police officer needed not apprehended the victim right away but could have continued to talk with him to calm him. Testimonies of other witnesses show that no such efforts were made and the whole incident happened within a very short period of time.

Another touching moment was the testimony of a man who lived in a house close to the scene of events that led to Jeffrey’s death. “I heard a thump crack sound, that sound will never leave my head.” He did not even know Jeffrey before the fatal day.

There was considerable number of people to whom the Reodica Family and the Filipino community owe a debt of gratitude for having the courage to testify on what actually happened on that day. They came from different races and most of them did not know Jeffrey before May 21, 2005. They came to tell what they actually saw and heard.

One aspect of the case that was miserably ignored was the issue of racism. At the beginning of the inquest, a representative of the Black Action Defense Committee spoke requesting to be recognized for a standing in this inquest because of the possibility that systemic racism, the use of police face and police racial profiling were involved. The coroner denied the request.

On June 24, 2006, Toronto Star columnist Rosie D Manno (Racial Conflict is at root of Jeffrey Reodica’s death” pg. B3) tackled the issue of racism in this case. She concluded in her article, “But Jeffrey Reodica ended up dead because of what started in a schoolyard, among teenage boys with testosterone to burn against the ugly backdrop of racially infused heat.

That’s what needs looking at”

It is high time that government as well as non-government agencies stop acting like ostriches burying heads in the sand by either denying or ignoring issues of racism.

Racism should be discussed openly with a proactive approach. Children were not born racist, they learn the attitude from adults. “A consistent educational program which is a part of the school curriculum is necessary to unequivocally state that racism is unacceptable.

All the lawyers for the Reodica Family and the Community Alliance for Social Justice covered the issue of racism in their recommendations but sadly none appeared in the jury recommendations because the coroner at the start of the inquest stated that racism was not one of the issues the inquest would look into.

Recommendations 10 to 14 of the Community Alliance for Social Justice that address the issue of racism are listed below:

RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMUNITY ALLICANCE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE

10. Police officers should be instructed regarding the importance of exercising their discretion in an impartial manner without differential treatment.

11. The Ministry of Education should develop a comprehensive program to assist students who are experiencing racist bullying. This program should include:

a. School policies in place to address racist bullying including mandatory cataloguing of incidents.

b. Teacher training programs that teach tolerance and teach non-violent problem solving strategies;

c. Partnership with community organizations to undertake efforts like culturally sensitive crisis interventions, workshops, public forums and peer counseling;

d. Developing curriculum and school programming to empower and educate youth on anti-racist perspectives that recognize the historical and social roots of racism;

e. Being open to suggestions from youth to improve and build trust in institutional responses to youth violence;

f. Fostering mentoring activities and support for youth empowerment initiatives to be developed by affected communities, to allow older youth to assist younger youth in cultivating dignity, confidence and self-respect in a culturally appropriate manner.

12. The City of Toronto should allocate resources to support youth empowerment initiatives designed by and for youth from the Filipino community. These initiatives would create a forum for youth to strategize and take action on grassroots anti-racist education and non-violent conflict resolution.

13. the Toronto Police Services Board and the Chief of Police in consultation with representative members of Toronto’s Filipino community and other diverse racial and ethnic communities should re-examine the role and effectiveness of Police Community Relations Officers assigned to work in different ethnic communities. Such re-examination should determine whether Police-Community Relations Officers are adequately meeting the needs and addressing the concerns of the communities they serve.

14. The Toronto Police Service should take pro-active measures to ensure that its members proportionally reflect the diversity of the ethnic and racial backgrounds of the Toronto population.
All the seven-jury recommendations (Balita Oct 16-31, 2006 pg 4) were included in the submissions of the lawyers for the Reodica Family and the Community Alliance for Social Justice.

And now let us have a postscript on the Reodica Inquest and the Filipino Community. Nora Angeles, a community leader who was called on the witness stand ably discussed the impact of the case on the Filipino community. Nora Angeles underscored, how this traumatic incident has increased the awareness of the Filipino community to get mobilized and involved with social justice issues.

The Community Alliance on Social Justice is now an organization recognized and respected for providing the leadership in the movement “Justice for Jeffrey”. For more than two years, this organization has worked incessantly pursuing its goal. There are very many involved in this pursuit that mentioning a few names might become an injustice. At present all we can do is to express our gratitude to the organization as a whole.

As for the rest of the Filipino community, a call is being issued for more participation in every way possible, True, we talk and discuss how unjustified the death of Jeffrey Reodica was, but most of us have been so laid back and passive in our reactions. Are we waiting to be the victim before we act?
We are just beginning to see the light from the other end of the tunnel. The jury recommendations clearly show that Jeffrey’s death could have been prevented. There are many ways by which the police could improve their training, strategies and most important of all, their attitudes in dealing with a very multicultural population.

Where do we go from here?