Indigenous man, Regina police settle complaint over 2014 incident
A settlement has been reached almost four years after an incident between two Regina police officers and Indigenous resident Simon Ash-moccasin.
In a joint public statement, delivered by Ash-moccasin outside the Court of Queen’s Bench in Regina on Friday morning, the Regina Police Service accepted responsibility for the incident and outlined steps they have taken to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
“The Regina Police Service formally acknowledges the hurt suffered by Mr. Ash-moccasin as a result of his detention, and the force used against him,” read the statement signed by both Ash-moccasin and police Chief Evan Bray.
According to the statement, Ash-moccasin has accepted the formal apologies made by the RPS and the two members involved in the incident.
He has also received monetary compensation as part of the settlement, according to a Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission (SHRC) news release.
All other terms of the settlement remain confidential.
“It’s been a long haul,” said Ashmoccasin. “I feel confident that in this day and age, in this world that we live in, that we’re being heard as Indigenous people and this is proof as well.”
Ash-moccasin claimed racial profiling was behind the way he was treated when he was detained by two Regina police officers on Dec. 10, 2014.
Walking home through downtown Regina that night, he was approached by a police cruiser. An officer told him he fit a description of a suspect — an Aboriginal man, dressed in black, with no front teeth — who had been seen trying to sell a television.
Ash-moccasin was the only individual on the street at the time, but other than being Aboriginal, did not fit the description, nor was he carrying a television.
He initially refused to give his name and alleged that a police member threw him against a wall, which left a mark on his face, and he was handcuffed and thrown into a police cruiser.
Ash-moccasin’s account of the incident was verified by the Saskatchewan Public Complaints Commission (PCC) in 2016 after he filed a formal complaint.
While the PCC’S findings verify Ash-moccasin’s account, it does not go as far as to say he was the victim of racial profiling.
Troy Hagen, Regina’s police chief at the time, said the incident was a result of a “training deficiency” and “an error in judgment,” not racial profiling.
Since the incident, RPS has conducted organization-wide training to “remind and re-educate members about their legal authorities and of the Constitutional rights of all members of the public.”
RPS also implemented “increased cultural competency training,” specifically on the history of Indigenous people, including the effect of residential schools, the ’60s Scoop and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action.
“He listens,” Ash-moccasin said of Chief Bray. “I’m confident that there is change that’s happening right now and that we can see it.”
Bray was not available for comment on Friday, but issued a statement through RPS spokesperson Elizabeth Popowich.
“We are happy to have come to a mutually agreeable resolution. Our hope is to move forward in harmony,” Bray expressed.
“Any time we can get an outcome like this, where there is an apology, it’s great because there’s a lot of talk of reconciliation happening ... but it’s action that counts and this is action,” said Bob Hughes of the Saskatchewan Coalition Against Racism. “I salute Simon’s stamina and the lawyers who helped him out.”
Hughes said the additional training implemented by the RPS is a positive step in the right direction, but that ongoing efforts will be needed to keep moving forward.
During the mediation process, Ash-moccasin met with the two officers who were involved in the incident. He said he can’t get into details about their conversation, but that he forgives them.
“You know why I forgive them? They’re given orders,” he said. “And because we’re human.”
The SHRC, which was involved in the mediation process and settlement, said that while the RPS did not admit to discriminating against Ash-moccasin in the “provision of public services” on the basis of his Indigenous “race and ancestry,” the police did apologize for how he was treated.
The SHRC supports the RPS’S commitment to improve training.
“The mediated settlement agreement ensures that the Regina Police Service will continue to train and educate its personnel to improve inter-cultural competency and prevent discrimination and bias in policing,” said David Arnot, chief commissioner of the SHRC.