'Police officers are permitted to possess or use them only in the course of or for the purpose of their duties'
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) has told police officers not to point their guns at employees – whether as a joke or not.
This came after the team concluded its investigation into a complaint filed by a civilian employee of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) back in 2019.
The “affected person” (AP) was based at the Elk Point RCMP detachment in the province from early 2018 to late 2019, and filed a complaint against two subject officers (SO).
The incident happened in the summer of 2019, when AP said they saw the red laser from the conducted energy weapons (CEW) and then turned to see SO1 holding his CEW.
A civilian witness was present at the scene.
Also, while the AP was unable to provide other dates when the stun gun was pointed at her, she said it happened multiple times.
Previously, one employer fired a worker for lying about unlawful firearms.
Pointing guns ‘as a joke’
SO1 denied the allegation, but SO2 confirmed that “in the past, he and other officers had pointed their CEWs at each other as a joke at times,” according to the ASIRT.
“There was never a cartridge in the CEW when this was done, so it could not discharge.”
Meanwhile, the witness said that it was “common” for officers in the detachment to point their CEW lasers at her and other civilian staff “as a joke”.
She said that SO1 had done this in the past, but she did not recall SO2 doing this. She said that it was always done “as a joke and was never threatening”.
This kind of behaviour should not be tolerated, according to ASIRT.
“A CEW is a prohibited weapon. Police officers are permitted to possess or use them only in the course of or for the purpose of their duties. Pointing a CEW at a staff member is not in the course of their duties, whether for a joke or not.
“Potential offences include careless use of a prohibited weapon, assault with a weapon, and threats.”
The ASIRT noted that “while the evidence gathered in this investigation was insufficient to support specific criminal charges, there is evidence of misuse of CEWs in Elk Point detachment.”
Such matters are outside of the scope of ASIRT and are more properly dealt with by the RCMP internally, it said.
Years ago, a gas station employer was sentenced to three months in jail after police said he threatened a worker with a gun and fired him for giving his friends free merchandise.
