Vancouver – Micheal Vonn of the BC Civil Liberties Association, reacted today to the finding of the Police Complaints Commissioner that a Victoria police officer used excessive force in an arrest three years ago.

“The finding of the Police Complaints Commissioner confirms what appeared obvious from the widely-circulated video of this incident – that the officer in question used excessive force by kicking and kneeing Tyler Archer during his arrest – even though he was in a submissive position and cooperating with police.

“It is worrisome that the Victoria Police leadership continues to state that they don’t believe that the officer acted unreasonably. The message sent by these comments is that it is acceptable to use this kind of force in these circumstances, even though an independent adjudicator has concluded otherwise. We hope that, despite these discouraging public statements, the Victoria police department will take these findings seriously.”