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Officer cleared in Inuvik tasering

Brodie Thomas
Northern News Services
Published Monday, December 1, 2008

INUVIK - An Inuvik RCMP officer did nothing wrong after he Tasered a 15-year-old girl, according to the federal Department of Justice in Whitehorse.

The teen was already handcuffed and subdued on her stomach when she was Tasered by the officer.

"At this time we consider the matter concluded," said Sgt. Wayne Norris with the RCMP G Division.

The girl's mother had no comment but advised News/North to contact the family's lawyer, Susan Cooper, in Iqaluit. Cooper could not be reached for comment.

Police were called to the Arctic Tern Young offender Facility in Inuvik in March of 2007 because staff members were having trouble subduing the girl.

The teen was still acting out after being handcuffed so the officer Tasered her.

The events only came to light in February 2008 after the girl's father went to the media and to Inuvik Twin Lake's MLA Robert McLeod with complaints about the Tasering.

There have been three separate investigations into the incident. The RCMP investigated whether or not the officer had committed a criminal offence when Tasering the girl. A separate RCMP investigation looked into whether or not the actions violated the RCMP code of conduct.

Both RCMP investigations concluded there was neither criminal nor ethical wrongdoing on the part of the officer.

After the initial criminal investigation was concluded the investigation file was turned over to the public prosecution service of Canada in Yellowknife for review. They, in turn, handed the file to the Department of Justice in Whitehorse for reasons of impartiality.

"It's something that puts them in an uncomfortable position because they work with the RCMP in the Northwest Territories," said Norris

Despite fears of conflict of interest between the NWT Department of Justice and Inuvik RCMP, the RCMP had no problem with initially investigating their own members.

One media outlet is reporting that at least one of the officers who conducted the criminal investigation was also a member of the Inuvik detachment.

Norris could not say which detachment the investigator came from.

"It is not our practice to identify investigators because if we start going down that road it would be hard to get members to do any investigations," he said.

He could confirm that it was a senior and experienced member of the RCMP. He said "several senior personnel" reviewed the investigation at its conclusion.

A third investigation was conducted by a private consultant hired by the NWT Department of Justice.

The consultant only investigated the actions of Arctic Tern staff in the moments leading up to the Tasering and their response afterwards. The investigation concluded that staff at Arctic Tern acted appropriately throughout the events.

Staff had a nurse come and examine the teen after she was Tasered. The girl was also offered psychological counselling.