Video of arrest leads to suspension of 2 officers
Last Updated: Friday, May 4, 2007 | 3:57 PM MT
CBC News
Two Calgary police officers have been suspended with pay after a video surfaced showing an arrest in which excessive force was allegedly used.
The short video, sent to the Calgary police and news outlets by an anonymous source, seems to have been shot from a nearby balcony and shows officers subduing a person on the ground.
An image from a video sent to the Calgary police and news outlets by an anonymous source.
Police Chief Jack Beaton said the arrest was drug-related and took place on April 25 at about 1 a.m. in an alley in the 200 block of 13th Avenue SW.
He said no weapons were used during the arrest, but he ordered an investigation as soon as he saw the tape.
"The individual who sent it to us thought that they used too much force in effecting that arrest," he said.
"Of course, I would like to go into more detail, but it becomes part of the criminal investigation. That tape was sent over to the investigators."
One officer shown in the video has been with Calgary police for nine months, the other for two years.
Probe might take 6 months
Beaton said the investigation into the incident is underway, but could take six months to be completed.
Police are still looking to speak with the person who filmed the arrest.
"They probably witnessed the first part of the arrest, so we want to talk to that individual or anyone else who was with that individual about what happened in the first part of that," said Beaton.
A former police officer and a prominent member of Calgary's black community said the public should wait before passing judgment.
University of Calgary professor Cathy Prowse, the former officer, said the tape contains little sound and doesn't include the crucial minutes leading up to the incident.
She said without that information, it's hard to know if the officers used excessive force.
"The barometer generally is [to use] as much force as necessary to effect the arrest, with a view to the safety of all involved."
'Really don't know what went on'
Gary Martin, with the African/Caribbean United Foundation of Alberta, said police have done a good job of communicating with the city's black community, contacting him shortly after the video surfaced. Martin said his group will meet with Beaton next Tuesday.
"We should be concerned. We should be asking the important questions, but at the same time we have also to remember we really don't know what went on."
Meanwhile, a Calgary group that represents people who claim they've been harmed by police doesn't like the idea of the police force investigating its own officers.
"I have yet to find a victim of police violence who is happy with that process. They are really just collecting more information, circling the wagons and backing each other up," said Gord Christie, spokesman for the Calgary Coalition for Social Justice.
