Special constables to be retrained on use of force
Posted Dec 4, 2010 06:14:24 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Ottawa Police will retrain its 64 special constables on the use of force following the release of two videos that show officers kicking or kneeing people in custody.
Special Constable Melanie Morris is shown in both videos using inappropriate force.
She has worked with Ottawa Police for 6 years and is currently on administrative leave.
The videos were released by the Ontario Court following the staying of charges against Stacy Bonds who was kneed by Morris and stripped of her clothing by another officer.
The police force has decided to add 20 hours of additional training for special constables, mainly regarding use of force.
Special constables are civilians sworn in as peace officers by the chief of police.
Regular officers in Ottawa receive a minimum of 10 mandatory hours of use-of-force training every 11 months, based on a provincial use-of-force model.
