Police watchdog to investigate use of force in Whitehorse arrest
Yukon RCMP say police 'found that the person had an injury' after arrest made earlier this month
An Alberta-based police watchdog agency is investigating the use of force by Yukon RCMP during an arrest made earlier this month, after the arrested person was found with an injury.
In a news release on Thursday, RCMP say it's related to an incident on April 8 when police were called to a report of intoxicated people in downtown Whitehorse.
RCMP say one person was arrested that evening, and police later "found that the person had an injury."
Police did not provide any more details.
The news release appears to correspond to a recent report by APTN News about a 17-year-old girl allegedly injured when she was arrested in Whitehorse on April 8. The girl's mother alleges that her daughter suffered serious injuries to her leg and required surgery.
Yukon RCMP say in Thursday's news release that police immediately advised the Yukon government of the April 8 incident. The government then asked the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) to investigate "as a result of injury to the affected person," the release says.
ASIRT is an independent agency of the Alberta government that investigates incidents involving police that have resulted in injury or death, as well as allegations of police misconduct. ASIRT is under contract by the Yukon government to investigate such incidents in the territory.
Yukon RCMP said they are "fully cooperating" with the ASIRT investigation, and will not make any other public comment about it.
The police force is also doing its own internal review "to gather a full account of what took place during this incident," the news release says.
"RCMP training, policy, police response, and the duty status of the members involved will be subject to review."