The Independent Investigations Office (IIO) of BC determined that a man arrested by VicPD officers on New Year’s Day was not seriously injured enough for oversight investigation.
The IIO investigation determined that the incident’s sequence of events began with a call to police shortly after 5:30 p.m. on January 1st.
VicPD attended the scene in the 800 block of Johnson Street for a possible assault and reports of a man running into traffic.
When officers arrived, they utilized a police dog to apprehend and arrest a suspect.
During the altercation with the police dog, the man suffered an injury and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment.
Because the man was injured during the police incident, the IIO were notified and launched an investigation to determine if police action, or inaction, contributed to the man suffering injuries.
However, first the IIO is tasked with determining if injuries sustained during a police interaction meet the threshold of “serious harm.”
Serious harm is defined by the Police Act as “an injury that may result in death, may cause serious disfigurement or may cause substantial loss or impairment of mobility of the body as a whole or of the function of any limb or organ.”
According to the IIO, the man’s injuries did not meet the threshold for serious harm.
Because his injuries did not meet this benchmark, the case has been concluded.
Editor’s note: This article previously stated that VicPD officers had been cleared of wrongdoing in this matter. Because the IIO only clears police officers of wrongdoing if the harm done to an individual meets the “serious harm” benchmark, the investigation was never fulsome enough to clear anyone of wrongdoing.
