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Video on YouTube
leads to police department probe

Officers’ arrests recorded by resident

Graeme Wood, Vancouver Sun, Oct. 22, 2009

Abbotsford Police Chief Bob Rich will ask the Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner to investigate his own department after a local resident posted a video on YouTube of a police takedown on Oct. 9.

Rich will ask for a review of a forceful arrest that occurred near Ravine Park following an alleged drug deal, Abbotsford police said in a news release.

The incident involved two foot-patrol officers who were in the 2500 block of Bourquin Crescent East at about 1 p.m. Oct. 9. The officers allege a drug deal was taking place in the driveway of a residence and arrested three male suspects. The arrests were caught on video by a resident across the street.

While one of the officers arrested one man and secured a suspect’s vehicle away from the camera, the other officer, with his gun drawn, directed two men to the ground. The video shows the officer forcefully kicking a suspect in a black jacket and stepping on the back of the suspect’s head.

When the suspect put his head up, he was kicked in the ribs. After the suspect slightly moved his body, he was again kicked in the ribs and the head. The second officer then walked into the scene and stepped on the suspect’s legs while the first officer stepped on the man’s left hand. The first officer then rammed his knee into the back of the suspect and handcuffed him.

Abbotsford police spokesman Const. Ian MacDonald said the incident was “dynamic in nature” because the two officers did not have a squad car and had to arrest three suspects while securing a vehicle on the street.

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