PCC says police used excessive force in Lafond arrest
The Public Complaints Commission found that Saskatoon police used force excessively against 21-year-old Jordan Lafond during his 2016 arrest following a highspeed crash.
Lafond was a passenger in a stolen vehicle that was the subject of a police pursuit on Oct. 24, 2016, in Saskatoon. An inquest into Lafond’s death in 2018 found that his death was due to accidental blunt force trauma, but pathologists were unable to determine whether a fatal brain hemorrhage was caused by the impact of the crash or the force used by arresting police officers.
During the inquest, Sgt. Thomas Gresty testified that he inflicted knee strikes to Lafond’s head.
An officer involved in the internal investigation testified that police suspected another officer, Sgt. Kelly Olafson, of using more force than initially disclosed, a possible kick to the head, but the investigator told the jury that he couldn’t say there was or wasn’t a kick, the Starphoenix reported in 2018.
Olafson denied kicking Lafond, testifying it would have been physically impossible to have done so. Lafond is believed to have been thrown from the vehicle upon impact with a concrete bollard and fence.
In a statement emailed to the Saskatoon Starphoenix on Thursday, the commission said it received a complaint in relation to Lafond’s death, alleging excessive use of force, and as is its practice, it investigated the complaint after the conclusion of a “serious incident” investigation by the police service and at the end of the coroner’s inquest.
The commission said it substantiated the complaint and advised Saskatoon Police Chief Troy Cooper, who accepted the findings.
“As is his authority under the Police Act, Chief Cooper made decisions regarding the discipline of the officer,” the commission said in the statement.
The results were reported to the complainant in December 2019, which concluded the PCC’S involvement in the matter, the commission said. It declined to make any further comment due to a pending lawsuit.
In an emailed statement to The Starphoenix on Thursday, Saskatoon police said they have “taken steps internally to reduce the likelihood of this occurring again in the future.
“Due to ongoing civil legal proceedings we aren’t able to provide any further information at this time.”
Chris Murphy, a lawyer who represented Lafond’s family during the inquest, but not the lawsuit, said in an interview on Thursday that this was a case of the police investigating themselves after being involved in the incident.
Murphy said one of the officers involved in the investigation was friends with an officer who was being investigated. He said the police cleared the officers of wrongdoing and based on the internal investigation, the Crown recommended no charges be laid against them.
There has been no confirmation that the officer found to have used excessive force will face consequences, he added.
“In all the circumstances, if you’re a member of the Saskatoon public or the public in Saskatchewan, what confidence do you have that circumstances that involve excess use of violence by a police officer are being taken seriously? As a citizen, that’s what I’m concerned about,” Murphy said.
Without civilian oversight, he questions what comfort level anyone in Saskatchewan can have that police officers who use excessive force will be held responsible, he said.
“I think that’s really the concern that people should have here.”