Edmonton officer's duty status under review over use of force shown in online video
Expert says use of force appears excessive
An Edmonton police officer's duty status is under review following the circulation of a video of an arrest in which he appears to repeatedly punch an 18-year-old man.
The duty status of a second officer at the same scene is also under review, Edmonton police said Tuesday.
The province's police watchdog — the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) — is investigating the use of force during the arrest, which the Edmonton Police Service said happened around midnight on Feb. 22.
The silent two-minute video was posted to various social media sites.
In it, the man is seen parking his car in a spot in what appears to be a parkade.
Watch | ASIRT investigating Edmonton police officer's use of force during arrest:
As he gets out of the driver's side door, a police vehicle pulls up and parks behind him.
The man appears to walk toward the EPS vehicle and begins gesturing as a police officer gets out. The man then walks back toward his own car and the officer follows. It appears the two are speaking, both gesturing and pointing.
After a few moments, the man turns and walks toward the building and the officer quickly follows, rushing up behind him.
The officer grabs the man, who turns and puts up his arms as the officer begins hitting him. It's unclear if the man is resisting or attempting to shield himself as the officer strikes him.
The officer takes the man to the ground and continues punching him in the head.
It appears the officer hits the man at least eight times. The officer then appears to press down on the man's neck or head as another officer approaches and kneels down beside them.
Once the man is handcuffed the two officers drag him to his feet and lead him away as the video ends.
In a news release Saturday, Edmonton police said that the events unfolded after police saw a vehicle "driving erratically" in a residential area near 106th Avenue and 92nd Street, and that the involved officers followed the vehicle to the area of 87th Street and 106th Avenue.
According to the release, an "altercation" took place. The release states the use of force happened while the officers were trying to arrest the man.
The man was later released on an appearance notice, with two charges and a number of traffic summons, EPS said.
According to the release, EPS became aware the video was circulating on Friday, and alerted the Alberta director of law enforcement "out of an abundance of caution and the importance of reassuring both the public and police that an independent third party review will be done."
The investigation has been taken over by ASIRT.
EPS declined to comment further, but spokesperson Cheryl Voordenhout confirmed Tuesday that the duty status of both involved officers is under review.
Expert says use of force appears excessive
Both the level of force shown in the video and the police service's characterization of the incident don't sit well with Kevin Walby, a University of Winnipeg associate professor of criminal justice.
"When you break it down frame-by-frame or sequence-by-sequence, I think it's totally excessive. But I wouldn't say that it's exceptional," Walby said, adding that he believes this type of force is used more often than the Canadian public might think.
He also said that it's difficult to parse what happened because of the lack of audio, but he noted that the video shows the man calmly parking his car, which doesn't match up with the police's description of erratic driving.
Walby also said that in the video it doesn't appear that the man's gestures toward the officer were threatening, but that it seems the officer perceived them that way anyhow.
"Instead of de-escalating the situation, the officer is starting to read the sequence of interaction in a way that enables him to escalate it," Walby said.
ASIRT said Tuesday that it was currently unable to provide any updates on the investigation, but an update would be provided in coming days.
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