Sudbury lawyer, client 'disappointed' with police complaint review report
Office of the Independent Police Review Director recently found Labreche used reasonable force
A report from the office that oversees police complaints in Ontario has left a Sudbury lawyer unhappy.
A video taken in 2014 shows Trent Falldien's client thrown face-first into a window by Sudbury Police Constable Christopher Labreche.
The Office of the Independent Police Review Director recently found Labreche used reasonable force.
But Falldien disputes the findings, and others say there's more to the story than the video shows, including an associate professor of law and society at Wilfrid Laurier University.
"They do do an investigation. There is a process and this involves, I would imagine, much more than just simply reviewing the video that we have all seen that is currently available online," Christopher Schneider said.
Conflict of interest?
The OIPRD let Sudbury Police lead the investigation under its direction, which they say isn't unusual.
Falldien said he thinks there could be a conflict of interest.
"There would be no point to file a police complaint to the police."
A professor at the Royal Military College and Queen's University, said police should be allowed to investigate themselves.
"We want to make sure that we respect the local context and the local autonomy of forces," Christian Leuprecht said.
But Laura Berger, who is with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, thinks there's room for improvement.
Tanner Currie, the man who was thrown into the window, has four weeks to ask for a review of the investigation.
Currie said there's only one way to describe how he feels about the report's findings.
"I have to say I'm disappointed. I really am."
He's also pursuing his case in the courts.