Black teacher accuses Winnipeg police officer of excessive force

A 43-year-old black teacher who was riding his bike on the sidewalk says he was the victim of excessive police force and has filed a Law Enforcement Review Agency (LERA) complaint.

He was stopped for riding on the sidewalk, an offence under the Highway Traffic Act, near IsabelStreet and Notre Dame Avenueby an officer on bike patrol in June of 2011.

Details of the incident were recently made public by LERA after Judge Robert Heinrichs ordered a new hearing of the complaint.

I do not give you permission to search me. Arrest me.- Grade 5 Teacher

The cyclist said he did not swear, call the officer names or do anything threatening, but he did refuse to provide his identification.

"I do not give you permission to search me. Arrest me," the Grade 5 teacher said in his account of what happened after the officer asked for his ID. He then pulled out his phone.

"I am a teacher just down the street. I need to call them to tell them I am being arrested so they can get a sub," he said, adding the officer then smashed the phone out of his hand and tackled him.

I ama teacher just down the street. I need to call them to tell them I am being arrested so they can get a sub.-Grade 5 Teacher

"I didn't feel safe as numerous reports about cell phone (sic) being zip guns," said the officer at the teacher's trial for riding on the sidewalk.

"My experience over the, at that point, 25 years was that I was going to affect (sic) that arrest and continue to make the situation safe for him."

The officer forced him to the ground and handcuffed him, according to both the teacher and the officer's notes from the day.

But their accounts differed as to what happened next. The officer claimed the teacher resisted and pulled away. The teacher claimed the officer hurt him when he applied an arm bar restraint.

A bystander who called 911 to summon backup told the LERA investigator that, in her view, the officer did nothing wrong.

Heinrichs diminished the significance of the witness's assessment, calling it a "minimal description" that does not help much in determining what really happened.

The charges against the teacher for riding on the sidewalk were stayed.

Whether or not the teacher was arrested with reasonable and probable grounds may be one of the issues considered at the upcoming hearing on April 22.

Heinrichs also identifiedseveral other questions that may be addressed, including whether a peace officer can require that a bicyclist show identification under the Highway Traffic Act, and whether the refusal to identify one's self in these circumstances should allowa police officer to arrest.

LERA rules prohibit the publication of the officer's name.

The teacher's lawyer declined to identify his client orcomment because the matter is before the courts. The Winnipeg Police Service also declined comment because of the upcoming court case.