EPS could learn from Calgary use-of-force inquiry, chief says
Edmonton police Chief Rod Knecht said Thursday he will be paying close attention as the Calgary Police Service’s use-of-force policies go under the microscope following a string of officer-involved shootings.
On Wednesday, Calgary police announced a sweeping inquiry into how its officers use force, which will be led by retired Queen’s Bench Chief justice Neil Wittmann.
The review comes after a difficult year for Calgary police. Officers were involved in 10 shootings in 2016, more than any other Canadian city. Five of those were fatal.
The force was also the subject of 30 investigations by the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT), the agency in charge of reviewing use of force and police misconduct incidents, up from 14 the year before.
Edmonton had no officer-involved shootings in 2016 and 19 ASIRT investigations, but Knecht said his department could always learn something from the inquiry.
“Definitely, we’ll be watching it,” Knecht said when asked about the Calgary review. “We’ll be looking at what comes out of the Calgary inquiry ... We’ll be interested to see any of those recommendations.”
While Edmonton police have seen an overall decline in use-offorce incidents, officers shot three people in March alone.
Knecht said no one factor explains the rash of shootings, but he did not believe police shootings are cyclical.
“I don’t necessarily attribute it to being a cyclical thing, because I think the (policing) environment is changing,” he said, citing a spike in gun-related crimes.
“So there’s more aggression one way or the other. I think that’s going to transpose into more shootings, more use of force issues. I think it’s too early to make that assumption — that it’s a cyclical thing — or that it is a trend.”
UPTICK IN COMPLAINTS AGAINST CITY POLICE
Meanwhile, public complaints about the conduct of Edmonton police officers rose slightly in 2016, members of Edmonton Police Commission heard at a meeting Thursday.
The EPS’s professional standards branch, which investigates complaints against police officers both externally and within the EPS, handled 1,247 files last year, according to an annual report released Thursday.
Just 224 of those files became formal complaints, which represents just .two per cent of all calls for service last year. Of those, 163 complaints were from the public, an 11 per cent increase from the 147 public complaints in 2015.
Internal complaints were down considerably, to 61 in 2016 from 113 in 2015, following a 2015 ASIRT investigation into steroid use and trafficking by EPS officers.
Complaints from members of the public covered everything from an officer’s professionalism (35 per cent of formal complaints), to use of force (17), to customer service (14), to a member’s driving (one per cent). Many complaints were dismissed by the police chief because the alleged misconduct was “not of a serious nature.”
The professional standards branch also concluded 25 criminal investigations in 2016, five of which resulted in criminal charges being laid.
Two assault cases concluded with members being conditionally discharged, while a theft case resulted in the absolute discharge of a member. Two members charged with theft faced alternative disciplinary measures.
Edmonton police also received 216 formal compliments last year.