Watchdog investigating injury to autistic boy while in police care

EDMONTON The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team has been called in to investigate what led to a 12-year-old autistic boy being injured while in the care of two Calgary police officers.

Police said the boy was taken into police custody Wednesday to be transferred to a hospital, when he became unco-operative.

During the course of a struggle with officers, the boy was injured, the Calgary Police Service said.

“The Service takes any in-custody injuries seriously, especially when it involves a minor,” Calgary police said in a statement provided to Postmedia Thursday.

“We completely support the independent investigation to learn what happened and will co-operate fully. This incident did not have the outcome that anyone involved wanted, and anything that can be learned through the investigation to prevent similar incidents in the future will be valuable.”

The service said its members are trained to resolve situations like these with “as little risk as possible to themselves, the public and the people we take into our custody.”

They added their “officers also do the best they can in situations where people are often unpredictable and combative.”

ASIRT executive director Sue Hughson told Postmedia Thursday more information would be provided Friday morning.