The Independent Investigation Unit (IIU) has concluded its investigation into circumstances surrounding an allegation of a serious injury sustained by an adult male during his arrest by Winnipeg Police Service (WPS) officers.
On May 5, 2022, WPS advised the IIU of an incident that occurred earlier that day around 9:11am, in the area of Pembina Highway and Bishop Grandin Boulevard. Officers were responding to a call for service and located a male suspect armed with a weapon. The male did not comply with requests to drop the weapon and a use of force encounter ensued. The male was taken into custody and subsequently transported to Victoria General Hospital, where it was determined that his elbow may have been fractured.
As a fractured elbow is defined as a serious injury under IIU regulations, the IIU was mandated to investigate. A team of IIU investigators was assigned to the investigation.
WPS file material and other information obtained by IIU investigators included:
- incident history report;
- 911 telephone audio recordings;
- WPS radio transmissions;
- witness officers’ notes and narratives;
- subject officer’s notes and report;
- prisoner injury report;
- use of force report;
- the affected person’s medical records and report; and
- forensic identification report.
The civilian director designated one WPS officer as a subject officer and four WPS officers as witness officers. IIU investigators also met with and interviewed the affected person. A canvass of the area did not identify any eyewitnesses or availability of surveillance or other video recordings.
The civilian director was not satisfied that reasonable grounds exist to justify laying any criminal code or other statutory offence against the subject officer.
The affected person remains before the court on charges arising from the incident. The civilian director’s report on the incident will be made available following the disposition of those charges.
The details of the investigation were first announced on May 10, 2022.
