The Independent Investigation Unit (IIU), Manitoba’s police watchdog, has cleared an RCMP officer from Manitou after it was alleged that they had used excessive force in arresting a member of the Dakota Ojibway Police Service on April 21, 2017.
According to reports the woman had been involved in a motor vehicle collision on Highway 3 near Pilot Mound. She claimed that after being arrested she was forcibly thrown head-first into the side of a police cruiser causing her cheek and eye to swell and bruise.
The woman reported the incident to the RCMP in June of 2017.
The IIU says that it investigated the claim because civilian director Zane Tessler determined it was in the public interest to do so.
Investigators interviewed the complainant, the officer accused, firefighters and paramedics on the scene as well civilian witnesses and other police officers.
None of the other people there saw the accused officer use excessive force on the woman.
Investigators say that her medical records also did not support her recollections of the incident.
The IIU learned during the investigation that the woman was combative and resisted being handcuffed and searched. It was concluded that “means used to restrain her were reasonable in the circumstances.”
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