Police cleared in 2 separate investigations
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/11/2023 (719 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba (IIU) has cleared the Brandon Police Service of wrongdoing in two separate incidents.
Manitoba’s police watchdog found no wrongdoing after its investigation into a Brandon police officer who shot a man holding a knife with a beanbag gun two years ago.
In November 2021, Brandon police responded to a call for service involving a man armed with a knife near the Wendy’s restaurant on 18th Street. Officers located the man on 15th Street. He refused to comply with multiple police commands to drop the knife.
When the man wouldn’t drop the knife, a BPS officer fired a round from a beanbag gun at the man, hitting him in the back. He was left with a welt on his back.
He was treated for a minor injury at the Brandon Regional Health Centre and then released into custody.
The IIU gathered and reviewed evidence from the man who was shot with the beanbag round, the officer who shot the beanbag gun, four witness officers and seven witnesses to the incident.
Police vehicle video and cellphone video taken by a witness were also reviewed by the watchdog organization.
Ultimately, the IIU determined that the officer used only force that was necessary in the circumstances and that the man was provided ample opportunity by police to drop the knife.
As such, the officer’s actions were justified and no charges will be laid.
Manitoba’s police watchdogs have also found no wrongdoing by BPS officers after a woman suffered multiple rib fractures during a police pursuit of a stolen vehicle earlier this year.
In April, BPS officers tried to stop a stolen truck in the 800 block of Van Horne Avenue early in the morning. The driver fled in the truck and officers were pursuing it while it travelled west on Highway 110. Then the truck drive through a stop sign at Highway 10 and drove through a ditch. The truck eventually headed back into Brandon, where it stopped on First Street to let a female passenger out.
Police took the woman to Brandon Regional Health Centre, where she was determined to have nine fractures to her ribs.
In the report, the IIU wrote that footage from one of the officer’s police car’s camera showed the truck violently bouncing during the collision into the ditch. The woman also admitted to not wearing a seatbelt at the time. Ultimately, the IIU determined that the collision, and therefore the woman’s injuries, were not caused by the officers’ pursuit of the truck.
The IIU reviewed video footage from police vehicles and interviewed two witness officers and the woman who sustained the injuries.
The full reports on both incidents can be viewed on the IIU’s website at iiumanitoba.ca.
» gmortfield@brandonsun.com