Get the latest from Jonny Wakefield straight to your inbox
A woman who worked in a small-town RCMP detachment is frustrated with Alberta’s police accountability system after the Crown declined to prosecute an RCMP officer she claims pointed a Taser at her.
Last month, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) concluded an investigation into two Elk Point RCMP officers who allegedly pointed conducted energy weapons (CEWs) at civilian employees in the detachment.
THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY
Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.
- Exclusive articles by David Staples, Keith Gerein and others, Oilers news from Cult of Hockey, Ask EJ Anything features, the Noon News Roundup and Under the Dome newsletters.
- Unlimited online access to Edmonton Journal and 15 news sites with one account.
- Edmonton Journal ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.
- Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.
- Support local journalism.
SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES
Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.
- Exclusive articles by David Staples, Keith Gerein and others, Oilers news from Cult of Hockey, Ask EJ Anything features, the Noon News Roundup and Under the Dome newsletters.
- Unlimited online access to Edmonton Journal and 15 news sites with one account.
- Edmonton Journal ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.
- Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.
- Support local journalism.
REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES
Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.
- Access articles from across Canada with one account.
- Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.
- Enjoy additional articles per month.
- Get email updates from your favourite authors.
Sign In or Create an Account
or
Article content
Article content
ASIRT said it found evidence the officers may have committed crimes including careless use of a prohibited weapon, assault with a weapon, and making threats, but declined to lay charges because the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service said it would not take the file.
Stephanie Menard says she was one of the civilians allegedly targeted by the officers. She previously worked as victim services program manager at the Elk Point detachment.
Menard recalled sitting on her computer one day in 2019 when she saw a red laser dot from the Taser’s sight. She turned and saw a young RCMP officer speaking with another civilian staffer holding a taser.
“I remember getting up from my desk and going to talk to him and being like, ‘Dude, you know people can lose their jobs over stuff like this? Like, it’s not funny, I don’t think it’s funny.’ And he just kind of laughed it off.”
She said the incident made her feel “small” and “belittled” in an office where, as a civilian employee from an outside organization, “I never felt like I was part of the team.”
Eventually, Menard posted about the experienced online and an unknown person made a complaint on her behalf.
By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.
Article content
Article content
In interviews with ASIRT, Menard accused one officer of pointing a Taser at her and said another “may have.” She could not recall specific dates due to the passage of time but said the pointing happened on “multiple” occasions.
Another civilian gave similar evidence but said she understood the Taser pointing as “a joke.”
The accused officer denied pointing his Taser at Menard but declined to answer questions. The other officer also denied pointing a Taser at the woman but said he and other officers sometimes aimed the devices at each other “as a joke” and that the weapons were always inoperable.
Matthew Block, ASIRT’s assistant executive director, said the agency had “reasonable grounds” to believe the officers committed criminal offences.
ASIRT sought a legal opinion from the Crown, but in 2021, prosecutors declined to take the case, saying there was no “reasonable likelihood” of conviction.
Menard stopped working at the Elk Point detachment months after the incident. She was surprised to receive a call from ASIRT last month informing her of the investigation’s outcome.
“The years passed, you tend to believe that nobody believed you anyway. Nobody cared.”
She said had ASIRT concluded its investigation within two years of the incident, she could have exercised other legal options.
Michael Ewenson, ASIRT’s executive director, acknowledged the delay between ASIRT receiving the Crown opinion and the agency issuing its final report, which he attributed to an “internal error.” The file was listed as closed after ASIRT received the Crown opinion, despite the fact ASIRT had not released a final report, he said.
Article content
Ewenson added ASIRT was busy clearing a file backlog with many cases involving deaths and serious injuries at the hands of law enforcement.
“None of that is meant to diminish the way the (complainant) may have felt working in such an environment,” he said.
No internal discipline for officers
ASIRT’s report noted that regardless of whether criminal charges were laid, “there is evidence of misuse of CEWs” at the Elk Point detachment.
RCMP spokesman Fraser Logan confirmed there were two code of conduct proceedings involving the officers, which found the complaints were not substantiated. Code of conduct decisions are not made public unless the force tries to fire an officer, he said.
Menard said her experience with the RCMP and the subsequent complaint have been distressing.
“You’re told as soon as you start a job with the RCMP, ‘Oh, you have to accept their black humour, this is just the way it is.’ I think when it happened, that was how I felt,” she said. “But thinking about it now as a 40-year-old? It’s not a great feeling.”
“You have police officers doing this to somebody that they should like, should respect,” she said.
Elk Point is around 220 kilometres northeast of Edmonton.
Article content