Cornwall, ON – On July 21st, 2022, the Cornwall Police Service (CPS) issued a statement in response to a video that was circulating on social media, depicting a physical altercation between officers of the CPS and a member of the public.

In the statement, police shared that on July 14th, 2022 at approximately 8:00 pm, the CPS received a 9-1-1 call to respond to a theft at a Second Street business, in which the suspects had allegedly been assaultive towards staff members. Police attended and spoke to the suspects, being an adult and three youths. During this time, the adult became uncooperative with police, resulting in a need for an officer to take physical control of the suspect, who was actively resisting police. The interaction between this officer and the adult was highly publicized, calling into question the actions of the CPS officer.

Following the events, the CPS Professional Standards Bureau launched an investigation into the incident, to determine if the conduct of the officer was in alignment with the policies and training provided to all CPS officers.

Following an extensive investigation, in which numerous witnesses were spoken to, the CPS has determined that there is no evidence to substantiate misconduct by the officer. The officer was found to have complied with the training and followed the guidelines of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) Use of Force Framework.

As such, the officer has been cleared of any wrongdoing.

It should be noted that police officers undergo extensive training to ensure a safe resolution of many types of incidents. They are authorized to use force in the execution of their duties to control resistant, assaultive or life-threatening behaviour, in addition to when defending themselves, other officers and members of the public. 

The CPS would like to thank the public for their patience and cooperation during this investigation.

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