Pacey Dumas and his mother wept at a news conference Friday afternoon as they described the fallout of the night an Edmonton police officer kicked Dumas in the head, causing long-lasting injuries.
“What Const. Ben Todd did, he wrecked our family,” said Pacey’s mother Irene.
“He gets to live his life perfectly fine while we’re over here grieving every day,” Dumas said.
Thursday, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) released its investigation into the early hours of Dec. 9, 2020, when police were called to a fight outside Dumas’s home.
Dumas’s lawyer, Heather Steinke-Attia, said when police arrived, Dumas and his older brother Blair willingly came outside and got on the ground.
As police attempted to arrest Dumas, Const. Ben Todd kicked him in the head like one would a soccer ball, according to the ASIRT report.
Dumas required a nine-day stay in ICU and ASIRT said the effects of his injuries will be long-lasting, if not permanent.
Although ASIRT said there was a reasonable chance Todd could be charged with a criminal offence, the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service (ACPS) said it will not be pressing charges.
The decision reopened wounds for Dumas, who said he’s been angry all week since he heard.
“How am I supposed to process that in my head?”
Blair, who witnessed the kick, died by suicide a little over a year ago, said Irene.
“(Blair) said he wished he could have done something, but he couldn’t. He always said that. It makes no sense,” said Dumas.
“Missing Blair…” Irene trailed off.
“Broke all of us, the whole family,” Dumas finished.
“The boys were so close. If you saw Blair, you knew Pacey was right around the corner,” said Leigh Ann Ward, Dumas’s aunt.
Police Chief Dale McFee said he has concerns about the ACPS decision and that the service is committed to investigating Todd’s actions from a professional standpoint.
“We are asking people right now to trust the process,” said McFee.
Now that the ASIRT investigation is finished, Steinke-Attia said the civil lawsuit the family filed against McFee, Todd and each of the unidentified officers that were present that night can go forward.
“In addition to Const. Ben Todd, there are a number of other officers we believe are liable for various reasons,” said Steinke-Attia.
She said with the current social climate focusing on reconciliation and righting past wrongs against the Indigenous community, ACPS needs to release the reason for its decision.
“There’s this assurance that it can’t happen again, there can’t be coverups of misconduct and there has to be accountability for past wrongs so that there’s a positive future, but it appears there’s an inability to acknowledge what’s going on at the present,” she said.
“Not putting a case like this before the courts to allow the public to know what went on … sends a terrible message … and especially hurts the Indigenous community,” said Steinke-Attia.
The family said they want Todd to face consequences.
“I just want justice. I want him to feel the pain that we’re going through and how much he damaged my family, hurt all of my kids,” Irene said.