The Camrose Police Service has been called in to investigate a complaint of unlawful arrest and excessive use of force by members of the Carcross RCMP detachment.

In the early hours of April 12, police were dispatched to a Carcross-area residence on a domestic violence call, according to police. The responding officers arrested and transported both individuals to Whitehorse RCMP cells.

On April 20, the woman who was arrested complained about the conduct of the arresting officers.

"The RCMP will co-operate fully with the independent investigation conducted by the Camrose Police Service,” the force said in a press release.

"This reflects the RCMP's adoption of recommendation 6.1 of the recent Yukon policing review Sharing Common Ground.

"It is also consistent with the RCMP's policy regarding external investigations which requires a transparent and independent investigation of serious and sensitive matters involving RCMP members.”

The RCMP may also initiate a Code of Conduct investigation of the members involved, the force reported this week.

This determination will be made at a later date based on the findings of the independent investigation and an internal assessment. At this time, the RCMP members involved remain on duty.

The RCMP's internal disciplinary process is notoriously slow (it was called "glacial” by outgoing commissioner William Elliot in 2010).

In the Yukon, discipline hearings are scheduled in June for Graham Belak and Shawn McLaughlin, who were charged with sexual assault more than two years ago. They were acquitted after a trial held last spring.

The RCMP have also promised to hold disciplinary hearings on the conduct of at least six officers who were on duty the night Raymond Silverfox died in police cells.

No date has been set for those hearings, and likely will not be until a number of civil cases brought by the Silverfox family have been settled.

As it is in everyone's best interest to allow the Camrose (Alta.) Police Service to do their work and report on their findings, the RCMP will not publish further details nor make comments regarding the matter at this time, police spokesman Sgt. Don Rogers said today.

"We're not giving any of those details at all. We want to allow Camrose an unfettered investigation, so there's absolutely no interference or misconceptions,” he said.

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