Advocates are criticizing the Independent Investigations Office (IIO) of B.C. and Surrey RCMP after a report cleared officers in the 2024 police shooting of Surrey mother Vanessa Renteria Valencia, highlighting what they call systemic failures in crisis response.
Renteria, who had recently moved to Canada from Colombia, was shot and killed in her Cloverdale home on Sept. 19, 2024, after police responded to a domestic disturbance call. She had locked herself in a bathroom with her daughter and was allegedly holding scissors near the child.
On Friday (Sept. 26), IIO chief civilian director Jessica Berglund announced there were no grounds to lay charges against the officer, saying lethal force was deemed legally justified.
But Battered Women’s Support Services (BWSS) strongly disagrees.
Executive director Angela Marie MacDougall called the report “narrow” and “troubling,” saying it reinforced the police version of events rather than exposing structural failures.
“The RCMP treated Google Translate like a life-saving intervention. It isn’t — it is an app,” MacDougall said. “Using Google Translate in a crisis reflects systemic negligence and disregard for immigrant women’s lives.”
The report confirmed that officers had requested a Spanish-speaking officer but none were available. Instead, they relied on Google Translate to question a witness — a mistranslation that later escalated the situation when it was reported that Vanessa threatened her child, a statement later walked back.
MacDougall said the tragedy shows how lack of proper translation, trauma-informed de-escalation, and safe crisis pathways led to Vanessa’s death.
“There was no meaningful risk assessment, no linguistically competent intervention, and no trauma-informed de-escalation,” she added. “By ignoring these, the system failed her before armed officers even arrived.”
The report also confirmed that the subject officer who fired the fatal shots was not required to provide a statement or notes, a standard legal protection. MacDougall called this “structural impunity” that undermines accountability.
Vanessa, described by her family as a devoted mother and active community member, had previously sought safety in women’s shelters but returned to her Cloverdale home weeks before her death due to housing insecurity.
Her sister Sandra said the family remains heartbroken. Advocacy groups are now calling for reforms to ensure access to translators, trauma-informed crisis teams, and stronger accountability in police oversight.
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