Officer cleared in violent arrest

Video captured man being punched outside ByWard bar

After an internal investigation, Ottawa police have cleared an officer of wrongdoing in a violent ByWard Market arrest that was caught on video.

Const. Craig Fairbairn was captured on smartphone video repeatedly punching a downed man in quick succession during the arrest on Sept. 6., but the police force’s professional standards section “has found there is no evidence to pursue Police Services Act or any other charges against the officers involved,” police said Thursday in a news release.

Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit, the civilian police body that criminally investigates forces in the province, did not invoke its mandate, saying the incident fell below the serious-injury threshold.

Ottawa police were called to Tequila Jacks bar on Clarence Street in the ByWard Market on the busy Friday night where staff reported two combative patrons fighting with door security.

“The investigation included the review of statements by witnesses, the individuals and the officers involved and the examination of other evidence including videos,” police Chief Charles Bordeleau said in the news release. “I am satisfied that the officers involved conducted themselves appropriately given the situation they were in.”

“Criminal charges remain against two individuals and the matter is still before the courts. As such, the OPS is limited in what it can discuss,” Bordeleau said.

Balkaran Bajwa, 21 — the suspect seen in the YouTube arrest video — is charged with causing a disturbance, assaulting a peace officer, uttering threats and resisting arrest. Gohar Ali, 21, is charged with causing a disturbance, assault with a weapon and obstructing a peace officer.

Police said the video showed Fairbairn using “distraction strikes” on a man while executing the arrest.

The video, and other evidence, was ultimately reviewed by Ottawa police use-of-force experts and an expert at the Ontario Police College, where officers are trained. Police said Fairbairn first tried to deescalate the tense situation with “tactical communication.” That evidence is not captured on the blurry, grainy video posted by a civilian who witnessed the event. Police said it was when the man being arrested allegedly sucker-punched the officer that Fairbairn began using “distracting hand strikes” to try to subdue the man enough to handcuff him and complete the arrest.

A source has also told the Citizen that the two patrons were threatening other bar-goers and staff at Tequila Jacks, saying that if they returned “it would be worse than a terrorist attack.”

“The experts agreed that (Fairbairn’s) actions are consistent with training and defensive tactics,” police said in the news release.

Kira-Lynn Ferderber, who witnessed the arrest more than two months ago, told the Citizen on Thursday that if the behaviour she saw is consistent with training, the training needs to change.

“That is supposed to excuse this one cop, but I think it indicts the whole force,” Ferderber said.

Ferderber said she wasn’t pleased with Bordeleau’s handling of the matter.

Ottawa Police Association president Matt Skof, while defending the actions of the officers he represents, has called for bodyworn cameras since the start of his tenure as union boss, saying the cameras would provide the muchneeded context in these types of situations.

Ferderber agreed that dashboard cameras and uniform cameras would tell more of the story, but in their absence the duty falls to citizens, she said.

“I just hope people will continue to film the police.”