Some Ontarians are questioning why two police officers were only put on administrative duties after being caught on video dragging a handcuffed woman out of a police cruiser in a town southwest of Ottawa.
A video released by CTV News Ottawa on the evening of Saturday, June 7 shows a 29-year-old woman being dragged by the leg out of a police vehicle and held on the ground in Smith Falls. An officer is then seen forcefully pulling her up and putting her back in the car by a police officer while another police officer watched.
According to a Smiths Falls police statement released on Sunday, the woman was arrested after police received two calls of disturbances related to her.
@nowtoronto Some Ontarians are questioning why two police officers were only put on administrative duties after being caught on video dragging a handcuffed woman out of a police cruiser in a town southwest of Ottawa. #Ontario #police #SmithFalls ♬ original sound – Now Toronto
For the first call, officers received a complaint at 9 p.m. after she had allegedly assaulted and threatened to injure someone in a residence on Lombard St. Two hours later, they responded to a disturbance inside a business on Main St. E. after the same woman allegedly threw a table at the wall and insulted staff and customers.
The woman, who was on two previous probation orders after threatening people with a knife, is now detained for causing a disturbance, two counts of mischief under $5,000, uttering threats, two counts of police assault and two counts of failure to comply with probation. According to police, she was also assessed by paramedics but refused to receive treatment.
In the statement, police also said they were aware of the video showing the disturbing interaction between her and officers, which they say happened after she allegedly kicked and spat at them from the back seat.
“The female was placed in the rear of the cruiser. At the time, the female is alleged to have repeatedly spit and kicked through the open portion of the plexi-glass divider where an officer then intervened,” they said.
In a second statement on Monday, Smith Falls Police Chief Jodi Empey announced that the matter is now being investigated by another police division, after initial stages indicated a conflict of interest.
Meanwhile, both officers seen on the video were “placed on administrative duties” until the investigation is completed.
“Every day our officers are faced with volatile individuals in this community. Their well-being is important as [are] those who are in our care and custody,” the chief said. “I will not be commenting further on this incident until the conclusion of the matter.”
Online, many Ontarians are questioning the officers’ actions in the video, saying that the officers should face additional consequences.
“Wow this is disturbing. No matter what the woman was doing wrong, this is abuse of power. Thank goodness it was reported,” one TikTok user said.
“She is already handcuffed, so why the excessive force,” another user questioned.
“Admin duties?! They ASSAULTED her! They should be on probation and taking anger management training. Or fired. Disgraceful,” a different user said.
