Items

• Aggressive Search of Community Agency

  **The account below is a community submission to the Archive. It has been anonymized to protect the identity of the person(s) and agency involved. This account is a personal reflection based on lived experience and opinions. All incidents are allegations not proven in a court of law, and the Archive does not investigate the veracity of reported incidents.** On May 26, 2025, at approximately 3:37 PM, [staff member], the [position], was outside the [downtown community agency] building with youth and another staff member when two uniformed Edmonton Police Service (EPS) officers approached the entrance. [Staff member], following what had been communicated from the beginning of [their] employment as [agency]’s standing “no police inside the building” policy (designed to maintain a trauma-informed, low-barrier space), gently attempted to intercept the officers. [Staff member] greeted them calmly with a smile and offered to bring out a frontline worker to speak with them, per protocol. Before [staff member] could finish speaking, one of the officers grabbed [their] arms and pushed [them] aside, nearly knocking [them] down. [They] began bruising immediately and was left visibly distressed. The same officer proceeded to threaten [staff member] and three other frontline staff members with arrest, accusing them of “obstructing justice.” He claimed they were in “hot pursuit” of an armed suspect allegedly inside the building. However, neither officer had their weapons drawn, and the search was brief and careless, with no clear urgency or safety precautions in place. No one on staff had witnessed the alleged suspect acting aggressively or violently, and no weapons were seen.
• Victim who was cooperating suffers serious injuries when officer releases police dog to attack

  The victim alleges that in 2009, Constable Dzioba pulled him over for a missing licence plate. The Statement of Claim states that the victim cooperated by getting out of the car, placing his keys on the ground, putting his hands behind his head and approaching the officer to surrender. Despite this, the victim claims that Dzioba deployed his police dog without any warning or prior instruction to the victim. The victim suffered extensive injuries as the dog bit him for several minutes, resulting in permanent injuries and muscle damage. In 2012, Dzioba was due to attend a disciplinary hearing for unlawful or unnecessary exercise of authority and deceit with relation to this event. He turned in his badge and resigned the day before the hearing was meant to occur.
• Victim has his home broken into by police before they interrogate, beat and tase him

  Marty and Cynthia Lacerte had a number of officers forcefully enter their home on or around October 27, 2006. Upon doing so, their door was damaged, and both were interrogated by the officers without being informed of their Charter rights. When Marty asked about whether the officers had a warrant, one officer allegedly responded, falsely, that they didn't need one, after which Marty was then thrown to the ground. Allegedly, one officer stood on his head as others began kicking him and he was tased twice. After this ordeal, he was further detained.
• Unhoused Indigenous individuals rounded up by EPS and transported to other side of city in "sweatbox" incident

  On or around May 20th, 2005, a group of 9 unhoused Indigenous peoples--6 men and 3 women--were picked up by EPS officers Hannas, Blackburn and Sauter on Whyte Avenue and locked in a police van. No one was told why they were being detained. The van lacked seatbelts and there was not enough room for all individuals to sit on the bench, forcing some to sit on the floor. The van was also hot and crowded, but officers refused to roll down windows or turn on air conditioning. They also denied bathroom requests from the individuals, resulting in one woman urinating on the floor of the vehicle. After being driven around for about 90 minutes with frequent sudden stops and forceful turns that made them fall into each other, they were later let out of the van in the area of 127 Avenue and 82 Street on the other side of the city.