Police review alleged use of force in arrest
Police have launched an internal review after an amateur video uploaded onto YouTube shows an Edmonton officer punching a suspect twice in the face.
The video is dark and blurry, but police confirm the arrest happened May 20 at 2:55 a.m. on the corner of Whyte Avenue and 104th Street. In the video, the police officer can be heard yelling at the man who is lying on his back, “Quit resisting. Go on your stomach.”
Eventually, another officer comes over to the person taking the video and the recording ends. Photos of two suspects are then shown with bloodied, bruised faces.
Two officers who initially responded to the incident had to use force and two other officers came to help, said police spokesman Scott Pattison. A sergeant later arrived to review the situation.
In the end, the 26-yearold restrained in the video and another 19-year-old man were charged with public intoxication and littering.
Although police haven’t received a formal complaint about the incident, police have launched a “self-initiated review.”
Edmonton police notified the Alberta Director of Law Enforcement “in the interest of openness and transparency,” a police statement says. However, upon the direction of that director, the Edmonton Police Service Professional Standards Branch will be in charge of the full review.