Police video of alleged assault doesn't tell the whole story: expert

Morning North7:43Policing expert says police videos don't tell the whole story

How is the ever present camera lens affecting the public's view of police? We had a policing expert weigh in with his observations about police videos and how they don't always tell the whole story of what happened.

A policing and technology expert says the public shouldn't jump to conclusions about a Sudbury police tape depicting an alleged assault.

Christopher Schneider, an associate professor at Wilfrid Laurier University in Brantford, Ont., was commenting on the videos that show Tanner Currie being thrown face-first into a Sudbury police station window by Constable Christopher Labreche.

“When these videos are recorded of these circumstances, they're decontextualized and then recontextualized onto the internet maybe in small snippets, for example,” he said.

“In some ways that helps to define the situation as being negative for police and the officer in that circumstance.”

Labreche is now facing an assault charge in connection with the incident.

The Sudbury Police conducted an internal investigation and cleared Labreche of any wrong-doing.

Schneider said he understands why that could concern some people.

“The argument [police agencies] make is that it makes sense for them to investigate themselves, because they know what it is they're looking for,” he said.

“They're trained to do so, whereas the public are not. And that's been criticized. And I think, in some context, rightfully so.”

Labreche, who remains on active duty, is expected to appear in court in March to face an assault charge in connection with the taped incident.