SIU Investigation

Thursday, 31 July 2014 07:48

Special Investigation Unit clear Oxford OPP officer following an incident that left one man injured.

OXFORD COUNTY -- An Oxford OPP officer has been cleared of any wrongdoing following a SIU investigation.

On February 8th, officers responded to reports of a domestic matter in Otterville. Police arrested a 42 year-old male at the scene and while escorting him out of the home, the man kicked out the glass in a door in the living room at which time the officer took the man down to the ground. The complainant hit his head on the front door and causing fractures to his vertebrae.

The Special Investigations Unit, Acting Director Joseph Martino says there is no reasonable grounds to charge the officer saying he acted out of concern for the safety of the complainant's wife and children, who were in the living room at the time of the incident.

In the SIU, Martino released this statement; “I am satisfied that the force in question was reasonably necessary in the execution of the subject officer’s duty. Having arrested the complainant, the subject officer was entitled to assert control over his movements by forcing him to the ground. The officer says that he acted out of concern for the safety of the complainant’s wife and the children when the complainant kicked out the glass from the interior door. He had reason to be concerned. This was a highly provocative and threatening act. The takedown itself does not appear to have been overly forceful. Indeed, the injuries the complainant seems to have suffered at this time appear to be as much a function of the awkwardness of the fall as they were the amount of force used by the subject officer. In the circumstances, the officer was legally justified in grounding the complainant pursuant to section 25(1) of the Criminal Code and there are therefore no grounds for proceeding with charges in this case, notwithstanding the serious injuries the subject officer may have caused in the process.”