A former Lethbridge man alleging police misconduct by members of the Lethbridge Police Service in 2012 presented his case to the Law Enforcement Review Board on Thursday.
The police chief dismissed the allegations after the initial internal investigation.
Now, more than five years later, the appeals board is taking a second look.
There are 17 allegations against six Lethbridge police officers, ranging from misconduct to excessive force.
Steve Major, the lawyer representing the police service, said the board will make the ultimate decision since an appeal was filed by the complainant.
“They have to decide whether or not the chief’s decision was reversible or unreasonable, or if it should go to a disciplinary hearing,” he said.
The hearing stems from a domestic assault call involving complainant Ryan Siebert and his former girlfriend.
The woman alleged Siebert assaulted her.
Police responded and arrested him.
Siebert represented himself at the hearing, claiming he wasn’t given the opportunity to share his side of the story and that excessive force was used during the arrest. He added one of his teeth was knocked out when he was thrown to the ground.
Officers said he was resisting arrest.
Seibert also claimed that while he was being transported to the Lethbridge Correctional Centre, the officer driving slammed on the breaks, pulled him out of the car and assaulted him.
The officer reported himself to his supervisors, admitting he stopped the car, but said he did not assault Siebert, but rather warned him to stop threatening his family.
According to the officer, Siebert threatened to find out where the officer lived and rape his daughter.
Siebert denied that, telling the panel he had never met the officer prior to his arrest and wouldn’t have known he had a daughter.
Major said Siebert had been drinking and has credibility and reliability issues with some of the statements.
He also added that despite the chief not finding wrongdoing in the overall incident, some of the allegations were addressed.
“There were a few elements of the conduct where the chief would have preferred something better and he issued sanction,” Major said.
“There was counselling involved for the officer. The one officer in particular, a two-week officer, has since had more training in the area of note taking.”
Siebert told the review board he was charged in relation to the arrest, but the charges were all dropped.
The board will issue its decision in writing, but there is no timeline for when that will happen.
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