The Independent Investigation Unit (IIU) has concluded its investigation into serious injuries to a male during an interaction with Winnipeg Police Service (WPS) officers.
According to the notification received on October 26, 2020, the WPS advised a male had sustained broken ribs after he was arrested by police at Salter Street and Mountain Avenue in Winnipeg on May 26, 2019. The officers had pulled over after observing three men having an altercation, then stopped and detained two of the males. One adult male, later identified as the affected person (AP), was restrained on the ground by force.
On October 26, 2020, the Law Enforcement Review Agency (LERA) shared medical records indicating the AP had visited Seven Oaks General Hospital (SOGH) after the arrest and stated his injury occurred during the detention by police. Medical records indicated the AP had two broken ribs.
As this matter concerned the serious injuries of a person that resulted from the actions of a police officer, the IIU assumed responsibility for this mandatory investigation and a team of IIU investigators was assigned to the investigation. Two WPS officers were identified as subject officers, and seven WPS officers were designated as witness officers. Three civilian witnesses were identified and two were interviewed. In addition, information obtained by IIU investigators included:
- call history
- WPS radio transmissions
- report summaries
- WPS use of force report
- witness officer notes
- a copy of the LERA complaint
- an audio interview of AP by WPS
- AP’s medical records from SOGH
- LERA file material
In this investigation, the IIU’s mandate was to determine if there should be consequences to the actions of the subject officers. Following a detailed review of this IIU investigation and file material, the civilian director has advised he is not satisfied that reasonable grounds exist to justify the laying of any criminal code or other statutory offence against any or all of the subject officers.
