RCMP investigating paramedic’s allegations
A complaint made by a paramedic who allegedly saw an RCMP officer choke a restrained man into unconsciousness is being investigated by local police, an RCMP spokesman said today.
Photo by Whitehorse Star
Sgt. Don Rogers
A complaint made by a paramedic who allegedly saw an RCMP officer choke a restrained man into unconsciousness is being investigated by local police, an RCMP spokesman said today.
Sgt. Don Rogers confirmed an offical complaint was lodged with the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP regarding an incident which occurred in October 2008.
The compaint was filed almost a year later, in September 2009.
According to a story published today on the independent news site Rabble.ca, paramedic Sasha Podolchak filed the complaint after allegedly witnessing a corporal with the Whitehorse RCMP assault a prisoner.
The complaint alleges that Podolchak and another paramedic were called to RCMP cells to attend to a man with a self-inflicted head wound.
When they arrived, the man was being restrained by police. His hands and feet were bound and his mouth covered with a spit guard, according to the report on Rabble.ca, but when the paramedics asked if they could enter the cell to check on the man, they were told to wait.
The man’s mouth began to fill with blood from the head wound, the report states.
Quoting from Podolchak’s one-page complaint, Rabble.ca reported:
“He made an effort to clear the blood from his own mouth under the spit hood by spitting the blood toward his lap area.
“The corporal then forced the patient’s head back with both his hands around the patient’s neck and throat area.
“The patient resisted this, trying to push his head forward. All the while, I witnessed the corporal pushing hard on the patient’s throat and neck. There were other constables standing around watching this whole incident unfold.”
Podolchak alleges the choking continued until the man lost consciousness.
According to the Rabble.ca report, Podolchak was so upset by the incident, she had to leave the scene before attending to the man.
“It’s under investigation like any other investigation, criminal or not, done by the RCMP,” Rogers said of the complaint.
He added that “an experienced investigator of a rank higher than the person being investigated is given the file and we work to ensure that we do a thorough and fair investigation.”
Rogers could not confirm the name of the officer or officers who are the subject of the complaint. He did say the officer named in the file is no longer working in the Yukon.
“The investigation is still ongoing,” he said.
As in any criminal probe, it will be up to the lead investigating officer to decide if criminal charges will be laid.
So far, no formal charges resembling the ones made in Podolchak’s complaint have been laid against the corporal in the Yukon courts.
Apart from facing criminal charges, police officers found guilty of misconduct may also be disciplined internally.
Rogers said that to his knowledge, the corporal has not been taken off duty because of the complaint.
While this file is being investigated by the accused’s own colleagues, the RCMP changed their policy on police-on-police investigations just last week.
From now on, the Mounties will call in officers from Outside police forces – the Vancouver Police Department or the Edmonton Police Service, for example – to conduct investigations of their members when complaints are made.
“The RCMP would prefer to never investigate its own employees and has always supported having outside agencies conduct such investigations,” reads a statement posted on the RCMP website Feb. 4.
“... Canadians are telling us they want the investigating agency assigned to conduct this sort of investigation to be independent from the police force that is the subject of the investigation.”
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anonymous
Feb 12, 2010 at 10:59 pm
If it bothered you so much why did you wait a year?