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An officer in West Vancouver has been cleared of wrongdoing from a video of an unmarked police SUV cutting off some longboarders.
The video from April 9, 2014 shows longboarders racing down a hill when the officer's SUV stops in front of them. The longboarders swerve to the side to avoid the vehicle, with one tumbling onto a nearby lawn. Afterwards, the video shows the longboarders having a rather angry confrontation with the officer.
(Photo Credit: Screen Grab)
The video was posted to social media and has received over 600,000 hits. As a result of the video, a complaint was directed to the Professional Standards Officer of West Vancouver Police, with a full investigation overseen by the independent Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner (OPCC).
West Vancouver Police say that the investigation included analyzing the video on social media as well as looking at on board video and technical data from the police vehicle. Interviews were also conducted with the parties involved who made themselves available, and a traffic and collision analyst helped with the investigation.
The OPCC has now agreed with the findings that the officer does not deserve a disciplinary default for his approach to and interaction with the longboarders. They also agreed that the officer's conduct “did not deviate materially from the objective standard of what a reasonable officer with similar training, knowledge, skills, and experience would have done in the same circumstances.”
Longboarding is banned in West Vancouver and subject to a ticket.
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