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Saskatchewan’s Public Prosecutions branch has declined to give any specifics as to why it had recommended charges not be pursued against an RCMP officer who broke a woman’s arm during an arrest last year.
The Serious Incident Response Team’s report about the incident, which was made public earlier this week, said there were reasonable grounds to believe a crime had been committed by the officer, namely assault causing bodily harm.
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The watchdog agency pointed to the woman’s decrease in resistance after she was pinned and handcuffed, and described the officer angrily breaking her arm as “consistent with that action having been applied for a punitive purpose, or as retribution for the earlier struggle.”
The RCMP officer and the victim were not named in the report.
The case was forwarded to the Attorney General’s office, but the Crown lawyer assigned to the case didn’t recommend that the officer be prosecuted.
When asked for more detail on why that recommendation was made, Public Prosecutions replied that in order to go ahead with a case it must be satisfied there is a reasonable likelihood of conviction and that it’s in the public interest to continue.
“If either piece of this standard is not met, the Crown cannot move forward with criminal proceedings,” the office said in a statement.
However, Public Prosecutions declined to provide any details on what led to those conclusions in this case or why it was felt the case didn’t meet one or both of its standards.
“Public Prosecutions recognizes some may be disappointed in or disagree with its decisions; however, it is important to uphold the legal standards that govern prosecutions and rule of law,” the office added.
In its report, the Serious Incident Response Team said the case was forwarded to the RCMP and its Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for review and any appropriate discipline.
The team’s report detailed the circumstances of the woman’s arrest, which occurred in July of 2025 after she left a hospital in Melfort.
She was found in the hospital parking lot by the first officer who responded. The report said he spoke with her calmly, trying to convince her to go back into the hospital. When she refused to go back inside, the officer told the woman she was being arrested under the Mental Health Services Act.
According to the report, he reached for her with his right hand; she pushed his hand away and went to run. But she turned back toward the officer and swung her arm upward, knocking the officer’s hat off his head.
The officer tackled the woman and ended up on top of her, with her on the ground on her left side, protecting her head.
“The Subject Officer displayed a significant elevation in emotion, stating ‘get on the f–king ground’ and ‘give me your hands now, you dumb f–king b–ch,’” read the report.
The woman said ‘okay’ several times and lifted her right hand from her head. The officer put his hand on her wrist and kept telling her to give him her hands, then punched her in the head with a closed fist.
According to the report, she raised her right hand again while the officer continued to shout at her.
He grabbed her right wrist and straightened it on the ground before pulling her arm behind her back.
“The Subject Officer informed the affected person that she was under arrest for assaulting a police officer, then stated, ‘Why the f–k wouldn’t you just listen?’ and ‘You just punched me in the face, are you f–king kidding me?’” the SIRT report read.
The officer put the handcuffs on her right wrist and turned to look over at the other RCMP officer as he arrived. He then told the woman she wouldn’t be going back to the hospital, while applying “significant upward pressure” on her arm with both hands, “causing the arm to audibly break and become visibly displaced.”
After that, the report said the officer’s demeanour softened significantly, and he tried to soothe the victim as she cried.
