An Edmonton transit officer has resigned after complaints of excessive force and racial profiling made by a 15-year-old African-Canadian boy, CBC News has learned.
He’s one of two officers involved in an incident on Jan. 19 at the Belvedere LRT station, now being investigated by both the city’s professional standards unit and police.
“The officer accepted a long-planned employment opportunity and is no longer with the city,” spokesperson Tarra Kongsrude said Tuesday, though she didn’t elaborate.
There is no indication that his departure is related to the January incident.
Last month, CBC first reported the story of the youth, who is not being identified for safety reasons.
The teen said he was accused by a peace officer of loitering while waiting to take Bus No. 154 on his way home from school.
He said when he tried to leave he was slammed into the rail, then pushed to the ground by two officers.
In short videos recorded by bystanders, the sound of what seems to be the boy’s head hitting the wall can be heard as he struggles with the officers.
Handcuffed and bruised, the teen said officers held him down while he tried not to cry. He was issued a $250 loitering ticket.
The city has declined a request by CBC to see any relevant video footage captured by security cameras.
Province monitoring city investigation
CBC has also learned that the city’s investigation will be monitored by an investigator with Alberta Justice and Solicitor General.
The teen’s lawyer, Tom Engel, wrote on Sunday to Bill Sweeney, Alberta’s director of law enforcement and assistant deputy minister of the public security division.
Engel suggested the city investigation should be turned over to the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT), which investigates deaths and injuries of civilians involving police officers.
In his response on Feb 26, Sweeney said the Police Act prevented him from directing an investigation to ASIRT because peace officers are governed by the Peace Officer Act.
But Sweeny said his department, which is the administrator of the province’s peace officer program, has assigned an investigator “to closely monitor” Edmonton transit as their investigation unfolds.
“If our investigator has concerns with respect to the quality, thoroughness or fairness of the investigation, I will be informed,” Sweeney wrote. “The program area is watching this one quite closely because it is a serious allegation.”
Sweeney acknowledged that the officer who resigned is no longer under investigation by the city. The second officer still is, and both are still under criminal investigation by police.