The South Simcoe Police Service received a report this week confirming several of its officers acted appropriately in a 2017 incident after the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) cleared the officers of wrongdoing in that case.
At a meeting, the South Simcoe Police Services Board accepted a report, which reviewed South Simcoe police policies, services and conduct of officers.
The report relates back to an incident that happened around midnight on July 7, 2017. Several officers were called to Innisfil Beach Park with reports of a firearm being brandished during an altercation. Two youths were taken into custody.
The parents of one of those youth arrived on scene and were “highly engaging in the activity,” making threats to police and obstructing the officers, said South Simcoe Police Chief Andrew Fletcher.
The woman was also charged with assaulting police after biting an officer, according to an earlier police press release.
After the incident, the 45-year-old man and 51-year-old woman each claimed minor injuries, and the SIU stepped in to investigate.
Two main police officers and seven witness officers were involved in the investigation, Fletcher said.
The man who made the injury complaint recorded the entire incident leading up to his arrest on his cellphone, and the video was ultimately used to clear the police officers, Fletcher said.
The SIU’s findings noted the officers "showed extreme patience throughout."
Once the SIU issued its report earlier this fall, the police service completed an internal review.
“It’s frustrating for the officers when they don’t think they’ve done anything wrong,” Fletcher said, adding police officers are not going to “do anything silly” when someone is filming them anyway. “We obviously found they abided by the policies."
