Kyla Frenchman, right, mother of Tanner Brass, is comforted by her sister (name unknown) during a media event organized by The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations in Saskatoon, Wednesday, March 2, 2022. The Public Complaints Commission in Saskatchewan has found police officers neglected their duty before the toddler was killed in Prince Albert in 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Liam Richards
PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – A Saskatchewan police chief says he is retiring after a report found officers who responded to a domestic violence call didn’t check on the well-being of a toddler in the hours before the child was killed.
Chief Jonathan Bergen of the Prince Albert Police Service says he is unable to accept the responsibilities needed to stay in the position.
The Public Complaints Commission report into last year’s death of 13-month-old Tanner Brass says two officers neglected their duty in the case.
The boy’s father has been charged with second-degree murder and his trial is scheduled for next year.
The toddler’s mother has demanded the officers be fired, alleging she was racially profiled when she called for help and officers took her to a police station, leaving the boy with his father.
Bergen says there have been attacks on his leadership and his family and that any decision to discipline the officers could be misrepresented as biased.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 18, 2023.
