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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Two things that could have helped resolve a complaint concerning an alleged assault by a municipal enforcement officer against a woman taking her grandchildren to the Santa Claus Parade last year were not part of the investigation, Yellowknifer has learned.

Cameras and microphones on two bylaw vehicles at the scene were not recording during the incident, and a man who said he witnessed the incident was not interviewed by RCMP. With no evidence other than what the bylaw officer and the family had to say, the investigation was closed and no charges were laid, according to an official at city hall.

"The RCMP confirmed with us earlier this year, I believe it was in mid-January, that the officer involved was cleared of any wrong-doing, and that was it for us," said Dennis Marchiori, director of public safety with the City of Yellowknife, adding that the city requested the RCMP investigate the incident to remove any perceived conflict of interest.

The incident in question occurred shortly before the Santa Claus Parade got underway on Nov. 17, after a 55-year-old woman driving two of her grandchildren downtown to watch the parade got into a dispute with a municipal enforcement officer while trying navigate between barricades and heavy traffic.

According to family members, the officer twice grabbed the grandmother's cellphone from her hand when she tried to call family nearby, and then physically tried to pull the still seat-belted woman from the vehicle as the grandchildren, ages 11 and four, screamed and cried.

Now that police have concluded their investigation without pressing charges, the matter is closed as far as the city is concerned, said Marchiori. The officer involved is no longer employed by the city but the circumstances of his departure are unrelated to the incident, he said.

One factor that made the incident difficult to investigate was that cameras and microphones on two municipal enforcement vehicles present at the scene were not turned on at the time, said Marchiori.

The city budgeted $15,000 for in-car cameras in 2007 and another $35,000 for replacements in 2011, stating the old ones had "been problematic and unreliable."

Normally, all municipal enforcement vehicles are equipped with cameras and microphones that begin recording automatically when the vehicle's emergency lights are activated, said Marchiori. He said he did not believe either municipal enforcement vehicle at the scene had its lights on. Either way, neither the cameras nor microphones recorded what happened, which would have made the incident much easier to investigate, he said.

"The views expressed by the (grandmother's daughter, who made the complaint) and the views by the bylaw officer involved - as well as the other bylaw officer who was there - were, I would say, different," said Marchiori. "We wouldn't have had to go through the 'he said, she said' had the camera been operating on that day."

Since the incident, the city has made a new policy that states all bylaw officers must activate their recording equipment "during escalating situations," said Marchiori.

A man who claims to have witnessed the altercation, however, said he did indeed see a municipal enforcement vehicle drive up to the scene with lights flashing, and the officer grabbing at the woman in her vehicle.

Paul Guyot said he was on his way to the parade with his girlfriend, a friend and a five-year-old child when he saw a small black truck approach the barricade and observed a bylaw officer speaking with the driver. Barricades had been set up along the parade route on 51 Street, causing the traffic to bottleneck. Guyot said he observed a bylaw officer directing traffic to turn around the way they had come.

What drew his interest, he said, were the actions of a second bylaw officer, who arrived on the scene with lights flashing and then ran over to the vehicle in a way that caused Guyot to wonder if there was an emergency.

The second officer immediately acted aggressively, talking loudly and grabbing the female driver's cellphone, said Guyot.

"I told them to take it easy," said Guyot, adding the first officer on scene seemed to back off when the other one arrived. "Maybe I should have stepped in more."

Guyot said he then witnessed the officer open the woman's door and try to pull her from the vehicle.

"They were being very aggressive and for no reason," said Guyot, adding the two children in the vehicle were "screaming bloody murder" throughout the incident.

Guyot said he approached police with his story but did not hear back from them.

Yellowknife RCMP Staff Sgt. Brad Kaeding confirmed the investigation has concluded and no charges will be laid.

Asked why police did not pursue Guyot as a witness, Kaeding declined to comment on him specifically.

"I don't know this person at all, so I can't say anything specific on what he may or may not have been told."

The children's mother, meanwhile, who asked not to be named, said she is still seeking answers as to why her children had to endure such an incident on their way to a Santa Claus parade.

After making initial contact with the city, she said officials told her they would keep her informed but have not contacted her. The RCMP did interview her mother but not her children.

"It just seems to me that once again, they're covering each others backs," the woman said of the investigation. "I think, unfortunately, this is the outcome you would expect."

She said she had hoped the city would put some effort into re-training bylaw officers on how to treat members of the public. At the very least, she was hoping for an apology.

"I would have liked to see them offer an apology to my mother," she said, adding the entire incident has destroyed her faith in the city and law enforcement in general.

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