Hamilton Police release statement on ‘concerning’ video of interaction with citizen
- Michael Kras
- 12 Feb 2021
Hamilton Police have released a brief statement following the public sharing of a security video depicting a concerning interaction between two police officers and a Hamilton resident.
The 2-minute video in question, which was posted to Twitter by user @EvelynaEkokoKay on Thursday, features security footage of two Hamilton police officers in an interaction with a city resident at her apartment door.
This is #HamOnt. This is why we say @DefundHPS. Notice how she never raises her voice, yet he accuses her of being "unreasonable" and not listening, while repeatedly talking over her and threatening her with arrest for property damage that never happened. Then he lunges at her pic.twitter.com/rm3qtPlenm
— autistic tom truther (@twentytwoloops) February 12, 2021
The officers are seen pointing out the security camera at the outset of the video before interacting with the resident, who spoke to the officers through a crack in her door and makes mention of a “complaint” made against her by a neighbour.
Midway through the filmed interaction, one of the police officers raises his voice in an aggressive manner, prompting the resident to respond “please don’t speak to me like that” as the officer continues to speak over her and raise his voice.
The video’s most startling moment comes at the end of the verbal confrontation, when the resident opens her door a bit wider to say “enjoy your bullying of a position,” to which the officer responds by threateningly lunging directly at her, prompting her to slam her door shut.
As the two officers depart, the officer who spoke through the video and lunged at the resident is heard chuckling.
“This is why we say [Defund the Police],” reads the tweet with the video posted by @EvelynaEkokoKay. “Notice how she never raises her voice, yet he accuses her of being “unreasonable” and not listening, while repeatedly talking over her and threatening her with arrest for property damage that never happened. Then he lunges at her.”
The official statement from the Hamilton Police reads “Hamilton Police are aware of a video showing an interaction between a citizen and our officers. The interaction captured on the video is concerning and has been forwarded to our professional standards branch for investigation. Public trust and accountability are integral to our work and we are committed to upholding these values.”
More on this to come.
Comments 0
There are no comments
Add comment