SASKATOON - The Saskatchewan Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) have concluded an investigation where they found police acted in an appropriate manner in taking a man into custody who received a serious injury from a police dog bite during the arrest.
On Sept. 21, 2023 at about 8:08 a.m. SIRT was notified from the Saskatoon Police Service (SPS) relating to an incident that occurred early that morning in Saskatoon.
At the time of the incident, at about 3:30 a.m. an SPS patrol unit encountered a vehicle near the intersection of Avenue R and 21 Street.
As the patrol unit turned to begin a traffic stop, the vehicle fled and within seconds left the road and entered a park where it collided with a bench, disabling the vehicle.
An occupant of the vehicle, a 32-year-old man, referred to as the affected person, then attempted to flee on foot.
A police service dog (PSD) was used to track the man, who was discovered hiding between garages in a nearby alley. During his arrest, the affected person sustained a serious injury to his arm as a result of contact with the PSD.
The man was taken to hospital where he was treated and released with follow-up medical treatment required.
The man's medical records confirmed he suffered a significant bite wound to his left forearm, resulting in both muscle and nerve damage that required surgery to repair. The injury constituted a serious injury within the meaning of The Police Act, 1990.
SIRT said in the news release that at the time of the incident, police were lawfully placed to arrest the affected person for several Criminal Code offences related to his operation of the Jeep.
In conducting their investigation, SIRT determined at the time of the incident, the PSD followed the track into the alley and stopped at a wooden fence, that separated two garages. The subject officer looked over the fence with a flashlight and, observing no one between the garages, redirected the PSD back into the alley. The PSD jumped over the fence and indicated a track between the two garages.
The officer released the PSD's line to climb the fence and, as the officer did so, the PSD "engaged with the affected person who was hiding between a fence and a large piece of wood."
When the dog made contact with the left forearm of the affected person, the man then grasped the dog's head with his right arm.
The officer shouted verbal commands to the affected person to stop fighting the PSD and delivered a single punch to the man, who then released his hold on the PSD.
Then, at about 3:34 a.m., the officer removed the PSD from the affected person's left forearm and took the man into custody.
Other members of the SPS attended and provided first aid to the man who was taken to St. Paul's Hospital.
According to SIRT's analysis, the evidence gathered during SIRT's investigation establishes that the contact between the PSD and the affected person, which caused the injury he sustained, was incidental and "occurred during an attempt to track the affected person with a PSD, rather than as a result of an intentional deployment of the PSD to engage with the affected person.
SIRT noted that when the PSD "unexpectedly engaged with the affected person," the subject officer took immediate action to arrest the affected person and remove the PSD. The single punch delivered by the officer was "reasonable and necessary" in the circumstances, as the affected person continued to struggle with the PSD.
In the end, SIRT said in the report there are no grounds that any offence was committed by any police officer in the incident.
