Evidence of jokingly using tasers at Elk Point RCMP won’t result in ASIRT charges: report

ASIRT has concluded that there is evidence of misuse of weapons by the Elk Point RCMP, as officers were joking with tasers towards some staff. 

A report released Friday details an incident from October 2019, where a staff member felt threatened by a police officer, who pointed a taser at them. 

ASIRT designated two officers as subject officers, as a civilian employee at the Elk Point RCMP detachment from early 2018 to late 2019, said during that time, officers had pointed their CEWs at her. 

The report says she knew they had pointed it at her because she saw the red laser from the CEW, used for targeting, on her.

They added that they did not think the subject officers ever intended to discharge the weapon at her. 

The officer that was accused provided a statement, saying they never pointed a weapon at the employee, but did not answer followup questions. 

The second officer said they never pointed his taser at the employee, but added that, in the past, he and other officers had pointed their CEWs at each other as a joke at times. 

There was never a cartridge in the CEW when this was done, so it could not discharge the report says. 

A witness says it was common to jokingly point at tasers at each other. 

Potential offences include careless use of a prohibited weapon, assault with a weapon, and threats. 

In 2021, no charges were recommended from the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service. 

ASIRT concluded that the initial officer and possibly the second officer had pointed their tasers at the employee while they were working in the Elk Point detachment. 

“While the evidence gathered in this investigation was insufficient to support specific criminal charges, there is evidence of misuse of CEWs in the Elk Point detachment. Such matters are outside of the scope of ASIRT and are more properly dealt with by the RCMP internally,” it reads.