Police watchdog says RCMP use of force in 2020 Whitehorse arrest was not criminal
Man was kneed 6 times by officer in Rotary Park and left with injured arm and black eye
An Alberta-based police watchdog agency has found that Yukon RCMP officers committed no offences when they used force to arrest a man who had been carrying an axe through Whitehorse's Rotary Park three years ago.
But the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) also acknowledged that there were some "issues" with the officers' use of force which left the man with an injured arm and a black eye.
"The law recognizes that officers' actions are not to be held to a standard of perfection. There are issues with the subject officers' actions on that day, but they do not rise to the level of criminal liability," reads the written decision from ASIRT released on Friday.
The ASIRT investigation was launched a few days after the incident in Whitehorse on July 6, 2020. ASIRT is an independent agency that investigates incidents involving police resulting in serious injury or death, and allegations of police misconduct.
The decision report describes what happened that day, based on testimony from 13 civilian witnesses, the arrested man, and three RCMP officers.
According to ASIRT's report, several of the civilian witnesses at the park that day found the arrest shocking and unsettling. Some felt they had witnessed police violence, with officers using excessive force against the arrested man.
Other civilian witnesses said they felt the police actions were justified.
Along with the witness interviews, investigators reviewed video of the incident taken by some of the witnesses as well as police.
A fourth RCMP officer who was there that day declined to provide testimony, a report, or notes to ASIRT.
"Subject officers, as the subjects of criminal investigations, have the same rights as any other person and therefore are not required to provide anything to ASIRT," the decision report states.
The investigation report describes how there were some discrepancies in the different witness accounts of what happened, but "overall, there was significant agreement between all witnesses, from the civilian witnesses to the subject officers to the [arrested man]."
The report describes how the arrested man had reportedly been seen that morning walking through downtown Whitehorse carrying a 3-foot axe, breaking a window on a train display near the MacBride museum, and appearing "angry."
He made his way to Rotary Park, where more witnesses described seeing him swinging the axe and hitting trees. At one point, he threw the axe at the ground not far from some witnesses.
"His actions during this time made some observers concerned that he may be intoxicated or experiencing mental health issues," the report states.
Police got a call and arrived at the park. They found the man and told him to drop the axe and he did. He also raised his hands and then continued to walk away from the officers. The report says police then told the man he was under arrest and to get on the ground. The man kept walking away.
The officers then brought the man to the ground "forcefully, with his face going into the sand," the report says. It says the "man was not compliant," possibly because his jacket had been pulled up over his head as he was forced to the ground.
The officers reported that the man then seemed to be reaching into his jacket, and they thought he could be reaching for a weapon. One of the officers kneed the man six times before he was handcuffed. The man's arm was injured, and he had a black eye, the report states.
Takedown 'not consistent' with arrest for mischief
The report questions some of the officers' stated rationale for arresting the man. It notes that it is not illegal to carry a wood axe, and that there was no evidence that the man intended to use it as a weapon at any point. Investigators also determined there was no evidence the man could be charged for causing a disturbance.
However, the man could reasonably be arrested for mischief, the report states.
"While their reasoning is not entirely clear, it appears that the subject officers continued to believe that the [affected person] was a risk due to his earlier possession of the axe. The quick and forceful takedown of the [affected person] is not consistent with an arrest for mischief. It is consistent with arresting someone with a serious weapon," the report states.
Officers should have "slow[ed] this incident down," once the man dropped the axe, the report says. The man's actions were consistent with someone carrying a tool, not a weapon.
"However, as noted above, the benefit of hindsight can open up insights that are not available to an officer in a dynamic situation. On this basis, the subject officers' actions were reasonable," the report states.
"There are no reasonable grounds to believe an offence was committed [by officers]," it concludes.
A spokesperson for ASIRT declined an interview about the report on Friday.
Yukon RCMP told CBC News they had received a copy of the report but would not comment until they had done an internal review of it.