Police Misconduct
On June 18, 2006, an Edmonton police officer was alleged to have struck an unarmed and handcuffed woman in the head, resulting in her falling to the ground, leaving her bloodied and injured. During the 2006 Stanley Cup playoffs, many Edmontonians watched the games in Old Strathcona bars, becoming drunk and belligerent. A journalist witnessed the incident and said the woman was being taken to a bus with other people under arrest when she uttered something to the officer who then approached her, handcuffed her and struck the woman on the side of the head. An internal police investigation was ordered but no charges were laid.
On July 8, 2008, two high-ranking members of the Edmonton Police were found guilty of assaulting a homeowner and entering his home without a search warrant. Staff Sgt. Jamie Ewatski and Patrol Sgt. Giovanni Fiorilli were convicted of the assault, while a third officer was found not guilty. The judge deemed the officers had assaulted Mr. Dubois at least 3 different times during the ordeal. This conviction, however, was overturned by a higher court on appeal. The higher level appeal court judge found that the lower level judge had made a "palpable and overriding error".
Read more about this topic: Edmonton Police Service
Famous quotes containing the word police:
“The duties which a police officer owes to the state are of a most exacting nature. No one is compelled to choose the profession of a police officer, but having chosen it, everyone is obliged to live up to the standard of its requirements. To join in that high enterprise means the surrender of much individual freedom.”
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)