Father of teen still seeking accountability from police

The father of a teen arrested during a lockdown at a northside school nearly five years ago is still seeking accountability for how the issue was handled — and continues to be frustrated by the system in place to deal with the issue.

The man, who has not been named due to youth criminal justice laws, appeared before the Lethbridge Police Commission during their regular meeting last week seeking answers in response to his latest roadblock.

He told the commission the issue had recently come back from the Law Enforcement Review Board, upholding previous decisions made regarding the case, and that he continues to be frustrated by what he sees as a lack of accountability.

“Is the police commission at all concerned about how the police handled this investigation?” the man asked. “Why isn’t there transparency and accountability?”

He also asked what can be done if a police chief or a professional standards officer violate the law and then retires.

Commission chair Lee Cutforth told the man complaints had a specific channel to be handled, and that there was no mechanism through the Alberta Police Act that provides recourse for issues with retired members.

“We don’t deal with complaints in this forum,” he said. “If you want to file a new complaint based on new information, you have to put it in writing and submit to the public complaint director.”

The issue arose out of an incident in 2013 when a 17-year-old boy broke up a fight at Winston Churchill High School. The school responded by locking down the school and calling 911. Police eventually laid charges on the boy who had prevented the fight, and he spent three days in custody in Calgary. Charges were later dismissed.

The boy’s father believes some LPS members involved committed misconduct during the arrest, laid charges without conducting a reasonable investigation, and conducted an interview without a parent present.

One of the officers involved, Sgt. Kerry Cherpin, has repeatedly been cleared of wrongdoing in regards to the incident.

The man highlighted the LERB decision to the commission. In an explanation of the appeal, the LERB concluded the officer’s decisions were within the range of reasonable outcomes overall and dismissed the appeal.

However, a comment was made on “the fact that so many of the officers involved in the response to (the youth’s) behaviour kept no notes of their involvement.

“Rarely has the board seen such a striking situation, which is a concern from any number of perspectives on good policing practices, as well as the transparency and accountability of police,” the decision reads.

“We would hope that the Chief has put a stop to such behaviour.”

Cutforth said some practices which may have occurred in the past are not happening now.

“I have personally talked to the Chief of Police, and his commitment is that it’s not the practice going on under his watch,” said Cutforth.

The man has vowed to continue pressing the issue.

“Right from the get-go, all I’ve ever wanted was accountability,” the man said following the commission meeting.

“In regards to the recent decision by the LERB, they concluded there was a lack of transparency and a lack of accountability,” he said. “I was hoping the commission would respond to that.”

“At the end of the day, my son is doing very well,” he added. “He is a law-abiding, hardworking young man, he’s a homeowner, he has a girlfriend. This incident has been hard on him from a stigma point of view.”

The process, however, leaves a lot to be desired in terms of timely outcomes.

“It’s been painfully slow,” he said. “They talk about wanting to speed things up, but I think five years is ridiculous.”