Police comfortable with more transparency: chief

The video of a Greater Sudbury Police officer's treatment of a city man during an arrest in June – in which a window breaks when he's shoved against it – is an example of the force's commitment to transparency, says Chief Paul Pedersen.

The video was released by Tanner Currie, who has made a criminal complaint against the officer involved. According to a media report, the case will be heard in January in Sudbury. Currie didn't respond to NorthernLife.ca's request for comment, but Pedersen said Thursday that cameras inside police headquarters record all police interactions with the public.

When suspects are charged, such videos are given to defence lawyers as part of full disclosure required by law, or they can be obtained through Freedom of Information Requests.

And those recordings will be expanded in the New Year when police launch a pilot program in which dashboard cameras in police cars will record incidents in the field and be used in prosecutions – or to investigate cases when officers are accused of misconduct.

“We are very comfortable, as an organization, with the transparency that comes with that,” Pedersen said. “We are also very comfortable holding our people accountable for that use of force. And as the chief of police, I can tell you I take that job very seriously.”

Pedersen was reluctant to speak of Currie's case specifically, because he said if he's seen to be defending the officer involved, it could affect the current investigation of the complaint.

“All I can do is speak to process,” he said.

But in a release Thursday, Pedersen said there was a request for a “non-negotiable” financial settlement, but said he couldn't say how much money was involved. When the request wasn't accepted, Currie filed the criminal complaint and went public with his story.

Whenever officers use force, Pedersen said details of the incident is reviewed and included in a Use of Force Report to evaluate whether the force was justified. That was done in this case, although he wouldn't comment on the results of that report.

“Use of force ranges from open-hand techniques, to the discharge of a firearm,” he said.

Pedersen did say the province's Special Investigations Unit – which investigates cases when the public is injured as a result of police actions – did not get involved in this incident.

“I recognize that (using force) is something we have to use judiciously,” he said. “That's why we have a system of checks and balances.

“We are going to be fully co-operative (in this case) and give full disclosure to the Crown attorney.”