Edmonton’s police watchdog investigates possible use of force in recent arrest

Alberta’s police watchdog, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team, will look into an incident caught on a parking garage surveillance camera.

Around midnight on Wednesday, Feb. 22, Edmonton police say they observed a vehicle driving erratically in the area of 106th avenue and 92nd street.

Officers followed the vehicle to 87th street and 106th avenue, where they attempted to arrest the 18-year-old male driver. The EPS states an altercation took place that involved the use of force and a warning.

There is no official word on if the man sustained any injuries as a result and the man was later released on an appearance notice with two charges and a number of traffic summons. Tom Engel, chair of the Criminal Trial Lawyers’ Association’s policing committee, says that in his opinion, the altercation was assault by the police and that informing the director of law enforcement took too long.

Engel says “first of all, the assault on this citizen is what is clearly called a category two use of force. And they have to radio, either the officer or the partner have to radio, to come to the scene to deal with it, to do a use of force review, check on the victim, and then make reports. Then, if there’s a serious injury, it has to go to the chief, and the chief is then obliged under the police act to immediately notify the director of law enforcement, who will then notify ASIRT. So why, when this happened on Wednesday night, was the notice not given to the director of law enforcement until Saturday?”

A police use of force during an arrest Feb. 22, 2023 (Credit: u/RaveStormInk/Reddit)

Engel says without audio and without further cotext, it’s not possible to determine if the officer could be charged with aggravated assault, or if the 18-year-old man will face further charges, raising a long-standing issue, as Engel calls on Edmonton police to start using both dash and body cameras.

“They should start wearing body cams. I know there’s an argument against them, but they should. And all police cars should have dash cam audio and video, just like all RCMP vehicles in Alberta have, and just like all Calgary police service vehicles have. It’s long past for the eps to be having that kind of equipment on their person and in their vehicles.”

EPS says they will not provide further comment as ASIRT looks into this.