Brandon officers scolded for language used during teen’s arrest

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This article was published 11/06/2025 (293 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The head of the Manitoba police watchdog has criticized the Brandon Police Service after an officer was caught on tape using inappropriate language during the arrest of an Indigenous teenager.

The Independent Investigation Unit was contacted because the girl was injured while being taken into custody on Oct. 16, 2023.

A child welfare worker who prepared a report on the incident, which was forwarded to the IIU, wrote that the officer called the girl a “rez dog” and a “neechie” several times during the arrest.

The IIU forwarded its investigation to Crown prosecutors, who determined there was no reasonable likelihood of conviction if an assault charge was laid against the officer.

Acting director Bruce Sychuk, a longtime prosecutor, said the agency’s investigators reviewed audio tape from a Brandon Police Service cruiser, which caught one of the two officers in the vehicle saying “you’re a neechie” to the girl.

On the tape, the girl is heard taking offence to the comment.

“What the f—k. Did you just really say that, that I’m a neechie?” she said. “What the f—k do you think is going to happen when my uncles hear that?”

Sychuk said he could not determine which officer had made the comment.

“In the spirit of reconciliation, transparency and accountability to the public, I cannot condone such language as appropriate or necessary,” said Sychuk in a report that was made public Wednesday.

“Efforts must be made to do better, and education must occur to ensure that such language is not used in a derogatory context.”

The CFS agency’s summary of the incident, which was given to senior Brandon police on Oct. 19, 2023, was forwarded to the watchdog on Oct. 23, 2023.

The case worker’s report alleged the officer had assaulted the girl after the youth got drunk at a friend’s home. A neighbour called police to report that people were fighting at the house.

Police who were at the scene told the IIU that the girl was agitated and tried to fight the officer. He told the IIU in a statement he used force to restrain and control her in order to arrest her.

The girl told the IIU the officer had lunged at her and tripped her. She claimed he punched her in the face while kneeling on her neck. She denied resisting arrest and had scrapes and bruises afterward.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca