Nova Scotia’s Serious Incident Response Team is investigating the circumstances surrounding the arrest of a teenage girl who ended up in hospital after she was tasered by police.
SIRT said Thursday in a news release that the RCMP received two separate calls for assistance at a home in Lower Sackville, N.S. Saturday evening.
SIRT said officers responded to the first call, but were told their services were no longer needed. The officers responded to a disturbance call at the same home about an hour later.
SIRT said in the news release that a youth at the scene was known to be violent and the officers used a Taser to subdue her while making the arrest.
She was taken to hospital and admitted.
The RCMP reported the incident to SIRT on Tuesday after determining the girl had been injured during the arrest.
The RCMP also issued a news release about the incident on Tuesday, saying they wanted to “clarify the misinformation circulating on social media.”
The girl’s mother posted pictures of her injuries on Facebook on Monday. In the post, she alleges that two RCMP officers beat her daughter and Tasered her repeatedly after she was handcuffed.
Police said they learned of the allegations on Tuesday, prompting them to release a statement.
“These allegations were concerning given they did not reflect what occurred when our officers responded,” said RCMP Cpl. Dal Hutchinson. “We have reached out to the family of the youth to have a discussion regarding these allegations and police response.”
Police confirm officers did respond to a home in Lower Sackville on two separate occasions Saturday evening. The second time, police said one of the officers tried to speak with the complainant, while another officer tried to speak to the teen. However, police said she immediately became violent.
“Our members’ primary concern was to protect the youth, their family, and EHS as we worked to take control of the situation and remove the youth from the home so they could receive appropriate medical care,” said Hutchinson in the news release. “However, the violent behaviour escalated and as a result, the youth was causing significant harm to themselves and posing a threat to others.”
Police said the officers then used a Taser to subdue the teen, but that she continued to be violent as she was handcuffed.
“At no time during the incident did the youth comply with the requests of our members to stop the violent behaviour,” said Hutchinson.
Police said, once she could no longer harm herself or others, they asked EHS to check on her condition. She was then taken to hospital.
Police said both officers also sustained injuries during the incident.
SIRT is investigating the incident and is asking anyone who may have witnessed it to contact them.
SIRT is responsible for investigating all serious incidents involving police in Nova Scotia, whether or not there is an allegation of wrongdoing.
