‘Demonstrable level of anger’: SIRT says RCMP officer may have used too much force

A Melfort RCMP officer may or may not have broken the law when he broke a woman’s arm during an arrest last year — but it won’t be tested in court because the Sask. Attorney General’s office didn’t recommend prosecution.

On Wednesday, Saskatchewan’s Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) released a report about an incident in July 2025 in which a woman’s arm was broken by an RCMP officer. In a rare move, SIRT said there was sufficient reason to believe a crime had been committed.

Neither the woman nor the RCMP officers involved were named in the report.

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According to the report, a number of 911 calls came in about the woman, including from her. She was eventually taken to hospital in Melfort over concerns about an overdose.

The woman ended up leaving the hospital a short time later, and workers at the hospital called police.

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 hit 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?’” explained the SIRT report.

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 officer’s demeanour softened significantly, and he tried to soothe her as she cried.

They convinced her to go back into the hospital and be treated. The report said she had a spiral fracture, which happens when a bone is twisted to the point of breaking, and she had several substances in her system, including cocaine and methamphetamine.

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In its analysis, SIRT explained that the law says an officer is allowed to use as much force as reasonably necessary in the lawful execution of their duties. It said the officer was within his rights to arrest the woman, but it was difficult to reconcile that with how he moved her arm.

“The comments by the Subject Officer preceding this use of force, and the demonstrable level of anger on the part of the Subject Officer during the use of force are more consistent with that action having been applied for a punitive purpose, or as retribution for the earlier struggle,” read the report.

The analysis considered the decrease in the woman’s level of resistance and the level of anger the officer displayed, and said the level of force and motivation for it appear to fall outside the legal protections for police.

SIRT said it has reasonable grounds to believe the officer engaged in assault causing bodily harm.

The next step was to send the case and findings to the Attorney General’s office – Saskatchewan’s attorney general is also Justice Minister Tim McLeod.

The case was sent in November 2025, but a response wasn’t received from the office until June 2026.

The assigned Crown lawyer said prosecution wasn’t recommended in this matter.

In the report, SIRT explained that it applies a criminal code standard to determine whether an offence occurred, while the Crown applies a standard of whether to proceed with prosecution.

As a result, SIRT won’t lay charges against the officer.

980 CJME has reached out to the Ministry of Justice for more information on why prosecution wasn’t recommended in this case.

SIRT said it will forward the case to the RCMP and its Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for their review and any recommendations for appropriate discipline.

980 CJME has also reached out to the Sask. RCMP for its response.