The cycle

After a police-involved death, families are told to wait for the system to work. This is what the system actually does: investigate slowly, rarely charge, and — when families sue — defend with public money and lawyers until the family runs out of time, money, or both. Here is that cycle, with the numbers behind it.

The accountability funnel

From death to charge: how the numbers collapse

Each step filters out cases. Very few police-involved deaths or serious injuries ever reach a charge — fewer still a conviction.

How it works

Six ways the process wears families down

Each stage below is documented with public sources. Together they form a cycle that favours the institution over the family.

The cost asymmetry

Who pays for the fight

The officer / the service

  • Legal defence typically funded by the city (municipal indemnification) and the city solicitor's office.
  • The police association / union maintains a legal-defence fund for members.
  • Time and salary continue; institutional lawyers handle the file.

The family

  • Pays out of pocket, or finds a lawyer willing to work on contingency.
  • Faces years of litigation, document fights, and limitation deadlines.
  • Often offered a confidential settlement — money in exchange for silence and no admission of wrongdoing.

Specific Alberta figures for police legal-defence spending are largely unpublished and require freedom-of-information requests; see Agencies & funding. Where exact figures are verified, they appear with sources.

Break the silence part of the cycle

Confidential settlements work because the public never learns what happened. If you have documents, a court file, a settlement, or a story the record is missing, add it — verified and sourced, on your terms.

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