Edmonton arrest photo on Instagram sparks outrage

EDMONTON The conduct of an Edmonton police officer who posted a photo of a man being arrested to social media should be formally investigated, critics say.

Const. Mike Roblin posted a photo to Instagram of two officers smiling with a shirtless man in handcuffs in between them, his face scribbled out.

“This fine young man was so thrilled with the service we provided he wanted to commemorate the moment with a picture. Just kidding, he was so high he thought he was on mars #summertimepolicing #dontdodrugskids,” read the caption accompanying the photo.

Edmonton police spokeswoman Patrycja Mokrzan said the department is reviewing the photo and will keep anyone who has complained informed, but did not confirm if a complaint had been made.

Roblin’s Instagram account appeared to have been deleted Monday. However, the image was published with a CBC article about the photo.

Avnish Nanda, a civil rights lawyer in Edmonton, said he couldn’t see any reason there wouldn’t be a formal investigation by the professional standards branch of Edmonton police rather than Roblin’s supervisors.

“It just boggles my mind why they wouldn’t,” Nanda said. “Just because they blacked out the man’s face, doesn’t mean that there isn’t issues raised about the professionalism of the officers’ conduct here.”

The police chief ultimately decides whether to charge officers under authority from the Police Act and send them to a formal standards-branch hearing. Officers and members of the public can appeal a chief ’s decision to the arm’s-length Law Enforcement Review Board.

Petra Schulz, co-founder of Moms Stop The Harm, an advocacy group aimed at overhauling Canadian drug policy, called the photo disturbing and said it shows that drug use issues should not be handled as a criminal matter but through public-health officials.