RCMP Supt. Brent Mundle.

(CARLI BERRY / iNFOnews.ca)

The Mountie who was seen striking a man in the face multiple times during an arrest is still on active duty, though his work status will be decided in the days ahead, Kelowna’s top cop said Tuesday during a press conference.

“Obviously in the short duration of the video, the action is concerning,” Supt. Brent Mundle said about the May 30 video that captured the arrest.

But, he said, it’s incumbent on him to learn what happened before and after the incident and put it all in context before making any decision. And, he stressed, the video itself is very short.

“It’s always our intention to obtain a peaceful arrest,” he said.

The 12-second video shows a portion of an arrest in a parking lot of the 200 block of Bernard Avenue. The man appeared to be intoxicated and struggled with two officers who tried to take him into custody.

That’s when the third officer was called in and when he arrived he struck the man several times and took him into custody. The man later went to Kelowna General Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.

Mundle said he knows that the video seems shocking.

Using force, he told a room of reporters, is something that officers are trained to do when needed if a suspect is resisting arrest and striking someone in the face is not outside the realm of what’s considered reasonable.

That said, given current realities in the U.S., the parallels being made are something Mundle is concerned about.

“In policing, public confidence is very important to us and that’s why, when this was brought to our attention we initiated the investigation,” Mundle said.

In the three years he’s been at the detachment, Mundle said that there has not been any complaints of this severity.

But in January 2011, Kelowna’s RCMP detachment became the focus point of an outcry against Mountie misconduct after an officer was filmed kicking a man in the face while submitting to arrest.

This recent incident will be subject to an internal review. It will not trigger an independent investigation.

Did you witness what happened or have a copy of the video? Call 250-718-0428 or email the reporter here.

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