Alberta’s police watchdog discovered “cheap grounds” for expenses in opposition to law enforcement officials within the arrest of an autistic, non-verbal teenage boy in St. Albert in 2022, however Alberta’s Crown prosecutors didn’t.
The Alberta Severe Incident Response Workforce (ASIRT) launched its resolution Wednesday after investigating the Oct. 2, 2022, arrest of a 16-year-old at a playground in St. Albert, exterior Edmonton.
BACKGROUND: St. Albert RCMP mistake non-verbal autistic teen for grownup after arrest
ASIRT felt it was cheap to conclude the three officers might have dedicated an offence as a result of they incorrectly recognized {the teenager} as intoxicated – whereas most witnesses noticed he was possible neurodivergent. The officers additionally thought they have been coping with identified drug customers, which ASIRT says affected how they handled the boy.
“As required by the Police Act, this matter was referred to the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service (ACPS) for an opinion on whether or not expenses must be laid,” ASIRT’s assistant govt director wrote in his resolution.
The ACPS advisable no expenses on Feb. 8. In consequence, no expenses will probably be laid in opposition to the officers.
“It is very important be aware that ASIRT and the ACPS are certain by completely different requirements when assessing the viability of expenses arising out of an investigation,” the police watchdog defined. “ASIRT, because the investigative physique, applies a Felony Code commonplace that determines whether or not cheap grounds exist to imagine that an offence has been dedicated.
“The ACPS, primarily based on its inner coverage concerning felony prosecutions applies an ordinary which examines whether or not there’s a cheap probability of conviction arising out of the proof, and whether or not it’s within the public curiosity to proceed with a prosecution.”
WATCH: St. Albert RCMP arrest teen at playground
St. Albert RCMP acquired a report on the afternoon of Oct. 2 that an individual with both “a extreme handicap” or who was “tripping on some medication” was alone on the playground of the St. Albert Lacombe Faculty. The caller stated the person, described as being in his early 20s, wasn’t harming anybody however shouldn’t be left within the playground alone.
ASIRT says a primary officer arrived and tried to get the boy’s identify, however the teenager merely ignored him or repeated issues. A witness felt the teenager’s solutions have been attribute of somebody with a psychological incapacity. The 16-year-old then left the park.
The officer advised ASIRT he then checked the licence plates of autos within the adjoining lot and acknowledged the car of a identified drug consumer who lived within the space. In his file, he marked the topic of the playground criticism as that suspect.
When {the teenager} later returned to the playground, the preliminary police officer known as for added officers to attend the park. Two extra officers arrived; they advised ASIRT they have been below the impression they have been aiding with the arrest of a suspect who was excessive on medication and identified to be combative with police.
That led the three officers to converge on the 16-year-old, with two officers grabbing his arms from behind and handcuffing him, in line with ASIRT. The boy began yelling erratically. One other civilian witness advised ASIRT it appeared {the teenager} had a psychological dysfunction and was not intoxicated.
In police audio of the arrest, the boy could be heard repeatedly shouting “it’s OK” and calling for his mom.
Police then went to the house of the “identified drug consumer” who lived within the space, and that individual got here to the door.
As soon as contained in the police car, the teenager gave unintelligible solutions to the officers’ questions. ASIRT says the boy “kicked the door and hit his head in opposition to the partition between the seats repeatedly. (He) was extraordinarily agitated all through the drive to the detachment.”
The 16-year-old was then left in a jail cell, the place he “pounded his fists on the door” and “hit his head on the cell door 4 occasions,” in line with ASIRT’s report.
Roughly half-hour later, 5 officers and two paramedics entered the cell. The boy was on the bottom and “the officers held him down by kneeling on him.
“Whereas the paramedics refused to talk to ASIRT investigators, medical information present {that a} sedative was administered at the moment.” The boy’s accidents have been described as “gentle swelling to the entrance of his head and redness on his wrists.”
Whereas he was incarcerated, the household of the teenager known as RCMP a couple of lacking individual – unaware of the boy’s arrest – and that’s when police have been in a position to establish who was in custody.
ASIRT investigators interviewed seven civilian witnesses, six law enforcement officials together with the topic officers and the boy’s mom in the course of the investigation. In addition they reviewed the teenager’s medical information, and watched surveillance video from a close-by faculty, police car video, and listened to all police and 911 communications.
