Transit officers investigated after racial profiling complaint

Edmonton Transit Service officials are investigating whether two transit peace officers breached the city ’s code of conduct or broke the law while detaining a 15-year-old boy.

The boy’s father told Postmedia he believes his son, who is black, was a victim of racial profiling and excessive force.

Postmedia is not identifying the youth because he is a minor.

Batul Gulamhusein, with Progress Alberta, a non-profit that advocates for the youth, said the teen was waiting for a bus with friends at the Belvedere Transit Centre when a transit peace officer accused him of loitering and told him to leave.

The youth told the officer he was waiting for the bus, Gulamhusein said.

Video taken of the incident shows two uniformed officers pushing the boy against a guardrail along a window before bringing him to the ground and handcuffing him. The boy was later ticketed $250 for loitering. Gulamhusein said the youth injured his knee and his glasses were broken during the incident.

City spokeswoman Tarra Kongsrude said a formal complaint about the Jan. 19 incident was made and the professional standards unit is investigating.

Edmonton police confirmed they also received a complaint and are looking into the incident.

Kongsrude said the investigation will examine if the transit peace officers breached the city ’s code of conduct or the Peace Officers Act.

“We are committed to the safety and respectful treatment of our customers and our staff,” she said.

Transit peace officers patrol ETS stations, bus stops and LRT trains in uniform and are authorized to enforce municipal bylaws and have powers and authority under a number of provincial acts.

Police officers have a much wider range of authority.

At a police commission meeting Thursday, Black Lives Matter policing issues co-chair Bashir Mohamed said in a presentation that transit peace officers are mostly in charge of preventing fare evasion. However, he said he increasingly hears about use-of-force incidents involving peace officers and people of colour.

“What we are seeing is this happening more and more — peace officers using force in roles they’re not prepared to deal with,” he said.