Lethbridge Police Service, file photo. (Image: Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

No wrongdoing in LPS assault investigation: report

Aug 26, 2022 | 3:26 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – An investigation has determined that force used by a Lethbridge Police Service (LPS) officer five years ago was “necessary and reasonable.”

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) has completed its investigation into a call for service on August 4, 2017, where a person was injured during an altercation with police.

On that date, two family members of the affected person (AP) contacted LPS. The first call was about a suicide threat by the AP.

The AP had barricaded herself in a bathroom, and upon the arrival of police, they spoke with her for about 20-30 minutes. LPS phoned EMS for assistance, who assessed her on scene. Upon realizing that the AP could not be apprehended under the Mental Health Act, the attending police officers left.

The second call to police was made a short while later by the AP’s mother, who claimed that the AP had threatened her with a knife and had also threatened suicide.

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The AP jumped to the ground from a second-floor balcony and was able to run away on foot.

A group of officers were able to catch up with the AP a short distance away and attempted to place her into a police vehicle.

While ASIRT was initially tasked with looking into a sexual assault that allegedly occurred at this point of the call for service, they say there was no evidence of a sexual assault taking place.

There are differences in the accounts given by the AP and the police officers regarding how a physical assault played out.

Both sides agree that the AP resisted being put into the police vehicle and had used her legs to push her away from the cruiser.

The AP claimed that, when she tried to run away, an officer punched her in the face six times and shouted “enough is enough.” AP recounted two officers kicking her in the legs, resulting in her falling to the ground and breaking her leg.

The suspect officer (SO), on the other hand, said he felt the AP’s hands hit his crotch and move upwards towards his duty belt while she was handcuffed. As he felt that she might have been trying to reach for his gun, investigators say the SO did a leg sweep to take the AP to the ground, breaking her leg in the process.

The AP’s medical records show that she suffered a fracture of her right proximal tibia.

The report from ASIRT explains that, under Section 25 of the Criminal Code of Canada, a police officer is justified in using as much force as is reasonably necessary when they have reasonable grounds to do so.

ASIRT Executive Director Michael Ewenson, who completed the report, came to the following conclusion:

“After a thorough, independent and objective investigation into the conduct of the subject officer, it is my opinion that SO was lawfully placed and acting properly in the execution of his duties,” reads the conclusion of Ewenson’s report. “There is no evidence to support any belief that he or any other officer engaged in any unlawful or unreasonable conduct that would give rise to an offence. While the leg sweep by SO did result in AP suffering a broken leg, this was an unfortunate and unintended consequence. The use of force by SO was necessary and reasonable in all of the circumstances.”

No penalties will be levied against the suspect officer.

The full ASIRT report can be read online on the Alberta Government’s website.