A video of an arrest in Kamloops has thousands of views as commenters debate whether the officer used appropriate force.
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August 03, 2023 - 4:46 PM
Kamloops RCMP has issued a full response to a controversial arrest recorded on video and making rounds in the news and on social media.
While viewers may have formed their own opinions, the RCMP says they don't have the full context and shed more light on the situation.
The video showed a Kamloops RCMP officer arrest a man, then a woman, in which he brandished and pointed both his firearm and taser at the woman and her dog. The events happened Monday evening in front of Kamloops city hall, but didn't tell the full story.
What viewers couldn't have known was that the officer, Const. Dave Tucker, was intervening in what appeared to be a domestic dispute or assault when he saw a man yelling and swearing at a woman standing with her dog nearby, police said in an official statement.
The man was in a vehicle, but Tucker intervened as he got out, believing the situation was escalating, according to the statement.
He arrested the man for causing a disturbance, but police say the man resisted. As Tucker was arresting him, the man passed off a bag to the woman with the dog, police say.
She tried to leave the area once she had the bag, but Tucker believed it was "potential evidence of an offence." She "positioned her dog" between them and the dog bit Tucker's holster as he tried to grab the bag, according to the news release.
By the time the recording began, the bag appears to be on the hood of a white car and Tucker returned to the man in handcuffs.
He turned back to the woman with the dog and arrested her for obstruction. The dog was again confrontational and Tucker pulled out his firearm, pointing it at the dog.
He put the woman in handcuffs after someone took hold of the dog, and police say she resisted in the process.
"The officer maintained control of the woman and retrieved his handcuffs while the second woman continued to film and taunt him," the news release reads.
Both the woman and the man were taken into custody, but they were released without charges.
“Our officers face countless risks every day and make split-second decisions, often based on extremely limited information,” Supt. Jeff Pelley of Kamloops RCMP said in the news release. “It’s important to understand the full circumstances of any incident, rather than rely on a social media video that may not provide complete context.”
Another woman was accompanying the man inside the car, who police say appeared badly injured with blood on her face. Tucker believed there could be a connection to a recent shooting of another woman near Schubert Drive.
Police found no connection to the shooting, but say they seized 29.7 grams of fentanyl, 5.9 grams of meth, cocaine and crack cocaine from the bag.
Police are conducting a "comprehensive review" of the incident and the investigation is ongoing.
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