Commission examining arrest video involving Estevan police officer
The Saskatchewan Public Complaints Commission (PCC) is gathering information after a video was posted to social media, appearing to show an Estevan police officer punching the person he was trying to arrest.
The 22-second video shows two police officers kneeling over a suspect they have detained on the ground in front of a furniture store in Estevan. After a brief struggle, one officer appears to punch the suspect three times. The video does not show any of the events leading up to the incident.
Estevan Police Chief Paul Ladouceur said the incident took place shortly after midnight on Sunday.
Addressing media at an unrelated event on Tuesday, Ladouceur said the EPS has contacted the PCC to investigate the matter.
“There’s a lot of questions, and when we see something like this on social media, it causes concern,” he said.
“Public trust is so important to the police, especially in situations like this. It wouldn’t be appropriate in my view to have our own organization do this investigation at this point, so that was the reason we reached out to the PCC.”
PCC director John Clarke confirmed that Estevan police notified the commission of the incident, and that the PCC is now awaiting reports from the police service. Once that information has been reviewed, the PCC will decide whether to launch an official investigation or not.
The officer who threw the punches was injured in the incident and will be off work for at least a month, said Ladouceur, although he declined to comment on the type of injuries or how they were sustained. The other officer is currently on active duty.
But Ladouceur also reminded people the video does not show the lead-up to the incident, and encouraged people not to pass judgment until the PCC investigation is finished.
“The public certainly doesn’t have all the facts. As the chief, I certainly don’t have all the facts yet,” he said.
“We’re accountable to the community, so does the community deserve answers when something like this posts on social media? You bet ... Will those answers take a bit of time? Yes.”