ASIRT recommends conduct review for CPS officer but not charges
Global News
An officer involved in a pair of incidents at the Calgary Police Service arrest processing section will not be charged as a result of their actions.
A Calgary police officer will not be charged for their treatment of two men held in arrest processing. An investigation by Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) examined officer behaviour in two separate incidents, seven months apart. While ASIRT stated force used out of view of security camera was “highly suspicious”, and force used during a mental health crisis was not proportional, it concluded charges were not warranted.
In one case, use of force resulting in a man losing consciousness. In the second case, the use of force against a man in the middle of a mental health crisis was determined to be “arguably not justified,” says ASIRT in its report.
Additional review by the Calgary Police Service, in the context of professional conduct, is warranted, states ASIRT.
The first incident on Dec. 7, 2018, involved a 53-year-old man who was removed from a cell with other detainees. After receiving food and water, the man threw a water bottle at a commissionaire, resulting in the commissionaire getting wet. The man was being taken to an individual cell, when the attending officer pushed the man against a wall in the hallway. The man was shorter than the officer, only coming up to the officer’s shoulders.
This occurred outside the view of security cameras. The officer’s hands — how he was holding the man — were not in view.
“At one point during this period of time, however, one of (the man’s) hands appears to come up and rest on the upper chest of the subject officer. Approximately 15 seconds later, (the man’s) hand appears to become limp and fall,” ASIRT executive director Susan Hughson wrote. “There is no deliberate movement by (the man) observed after this point.”
When the officer backed away from the man, he collapsed and fell to the floor “landing partially on his face, unconscious.”
According to the report, a medic was called. The man was taken to hospital where he was found to have a rib fracture. He had a fresh wound that was sutured. He was released from hospital on Dec. 17, 2018.