The two police officers from the Service de police de la Ville de Québec (SPVQ) who are still suspended due to harsh arrests in November will be back on duty next Sunday.
Posted at 4:05 p.m.
“The police officer who is the subject of an investigation by the Bureau of Independent Investigations (BEI) will be assigned to administrative tasks,” reads the SPVQ press release. The other officer may resume his regular duties. A total of five police officers from the same squad had been suspended by the end of November. Three of them resumed their duties on December 20.
On the night of November 26 to 27, images captured the arrest of Pacifique Niyokwizera near the Dagobert bar. The young man is kicked by an officer and has snow thrown in his face. Another controversial arrest took place at the Portofino restaurant in Sainte-Foy the same evening.
Three of the five police officers suspended in November had participated in the two interventions on November 26. These agents are part of the GRIPP squad, assigned to the surveillance of bars.
Despite the return of the police officers to duty, the SPVQ specified that the investigations into disciplinary matters, the investigation by the Ethics Commissioner as well as the criminal investigation by the BEI “are still ongoing”. “Since this type of investigation can take some time, the management of the Police Department wanted the police to offer a service to lend a hand to the organization in the accomplishment of its primary mission, which is to ‘ensure the safety of the citizens of the agglomeration of Quebec,’ one can read in the press release.
With Henri Ouellette-Vézina and Gabriel Béland, The Press