A Special Investigations Unit mobile command centre is seen in this file photo. (Photo: SIU)<\/p>\n
Officers used \u201clawful force\u201d to subdue a knife-wielding man who made threats against his housemate in Brampton, Ontario\u2019s police watchdog says.<\/p>\n
The incident happened back on May 31 when officers with Peel Regional Police were called to a home near Sandalwood Parkway West and McLaughlin Road North in Brampton, Ontario\u2019s Special Investigations Unit says.<\/p>\n
One tenant of the home was doing laundry when one of the property\u2019s other tenants threatened the victim with a knife. The male suspect reportedly waved the knife in the victim\u2019s face, but no one was injured.<\/p>\n
But the man then went outside and damaged a vehicle while continuing to threaten others inside the home, the SIU says. The man was recorded on video with a 10-centimetre-long kitchen knife while the victim inside filmed the incident on a cellphone.<\/p>\n
Police arrived on the scene and ordered the man to his knees, and then instructed him to lay flat on his stomach. But the suspect \u201ceither did not understand the instruction or refused to comply,\u201d leading one of the officers to kick the man in the back.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the complainant subsequently lifted his shirt above the waist, the (officer) moved in quickly and kicked him in the back,\u201d an SIU report of the incident reads.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe strike propelled the complainant forward onto his front. He struck his face on the road and broke his nose in the process,\u201d the SIU says.<\/p>\n
And while the SIU\u2019s investigation found officers \u201cused only lawful force\u201d to take the suspect into custody, one of the officers involved did not activate his body-worn camera \u201cin a timely fashion,\u201d in possible violation of the Police Code of Conduct.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will be referring this matter to the chief of police and, pursuant to section 35.1 of the Special Investigations Act, 2019, to the Law Enforcement Complaints Agency,\u201d SIU Director Joseph Martino said in his decision.<\/p>\n
The incident is at least the second in the same month in which the SIU found issues with Peel police officers turning on body-worn cameras.<\/p>\n
On March 17, a Peel police officer was on patrol in a marked cruiser when an automatic licence plate recognition device detected a stolen vehicle parked outside the Hasty Market on Queen Street East. An SIU investigation found that an officer committed \u201cpossible misconduct\u201d under the Police Code of Conduct for not activating his body-worn camera until after the incident ended<\/a>.<\/p>\n The SIU said the officer \u201chad ample opportunity\u201d to turn his camera on prior to approaching the driver\u2019s door, \u201cbut failed to do so, only turning it on after the Complainant had been removed from the vehicle.\u201d<\/p>\n The SIU is Ontario\u2019s police watchdog agency that investigates police incidents in Ontario involving death, serious injury, the discharge of a firearm, or allegations of sexual assault.<\/p>\n