News Release
SIU Concludes Investigation into Hamilton Police Officers, Broken Nose Suffered by Man
Case Number: 21-OCI-392
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has found no reasonable grounds to believe that two Hamilton Police Service officers committed a criminal offence in connection with a broken nose suffered by a 44-year-old man during his arrest last November.
On November 15, 2021, officers went to the man’s apartment to arrest him for remaining in the unit despite having been evicted. The man resisted arrest, pushing and pulling when officers attempted to handcuff him. An officer punched the man twice and the other officer punched him once. The man was then arrested.
Director Martino said the officers were understandably concerned that the man could potentially grab a nearby knife and hatchet. In the circumstances, the punches were a reasonable use of force to quickly subdue the man and take him safely into custody. The file has been closed.
Full Director’s Report (with Incident Narrative, Evidence, and Analysis & Director’s Decision):
The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates the conduct of officials (police officers as well as special constables with the Niagara Parks Commission and peace officers with the Legislative Protective Service) that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault and/or the discharge of a firearm at a person. All investigations are conducted by SIU investigators who are civilians. Under the Special Investigations Unit Act, the Director of the SIU must
- consider whether the official has committed a criminal offence in connection with the incident under investigation
- depending on the evidence, cause a criminal charge to be laid against the official where grounds exist for doing so, or close the file without any charges being laid
- publicly report the results of its investigations
Lisez ce communiqué en français.
Kristy Denette, siu.media@ontario.ca
SIU Communications/Service des communications, UES