Toronto Police Service’s (TPS) professional standards unit is investigating after video footage surfaced on social media of several officers arresting a man on a packed TTC subway train.
In the video, which was posted on Instagram on Thursday, five officers – four males and one female – are seen approaching a male seated inside a train. This individual is quite verbal and appears to be upset.
As they arrive, another male passenger points him out to police, saying “There he is.”
Moments later, the male officers are seen grabbing the male’s arms and legs as they move him down to the floor of the train. One officer is then seen kicking the male three times in the shoulder/upper back area, before someone is heard yelling, “Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, that’s enough. Let it go.”
A screengrab of a video that shows a March 26 arrest on a TTC train at Eglinton West Station. (DwayneConnellClothing/Instagram)
In a written statement provided to CTV News Toronto in response to the video of the incident that was sent to them, police say that on March 26, at about 11 a.m., they were called to the Eglinton West subway station for reports of “unknown trouble.”
They said that several people had called 911 after a man allegedly assaulted a woman on the train and stole her phone.
The accused, whose identity has not been released by police, was arrested and has been charged with one count of robbery and three counts of fail to comply with probation.
Police have confirmed that they are aware of the video circulating on social media and that the male seen in it is the same person who was arrested and charged on March 26 in connection with an incident at Eglinton West Station. They also told CTV News Toronto that no injuries were sustained by either victim or the suspect.
Further, police said at this point they do not believe any weapons were involved in the incident.
After watching the video, CTV News’ Public Safety Analyst Chris Lewis said the officer was not justified in striking the man.
“Kicking him was not necessary. It was clear that one officer stepped in front of the kicking officer, and the female officer put her hand out to kind of hold them back,” Lewis said.
“If he had a knife in his hand or something that he wouldn’t let go of and they couldn’t break that free from his hand, potentially striking him would be fair game, but that’s not the case.”
Lewis adds that if the male was suspected to have a weapon, then police could have drawn a Taser or gun.
“Yeah, he was belligerent, yeah, he seemed very upset and irate, and potentially that could result in a fight, but it didn’t get to that point. As soon as they got control of him, it was over, but the other officer that put the kicks forward ultimately didn’t allow them to do that,” Lewis said.
David Shellnut, managing partner of Biking Lawyer LLP, told CTV News Toronto that while the video is “pretty wild,” it is not as shocking as Toronto police have used excessive force in the past.
“We have a number of those cases, you see them time and time again where what we used to say is officers going further than they should in an arrest. Maybe this person was being a threat to people on the subway. We know people have heightened fears on the subway and that should be accounted for, but if you have five officers and you’ve taken someone down who’s in distress, you don’t need to be kicking them multiple times,” Shellnut said.
“We invest so much in our policing, and we give them the ultimate authority and trust, and so they have to really be careful with what they do and not violate that trust.”
Toronto police indicated that they would not be commenting further on the professional standards investigation.
CTV News Toronto has reached out to the TTC for comment as well as to the person who posted the video of the incident on Instagram.
With files from CTV News Toronto’s Mike Walker