A B.C. Mountie has been charged with assault for allegedly using excessive force against a woman while fingerprinting her.
Const. Derek Brown was working as a general duty officer in Nanaimo at the time of the Aug. 17, 2011 incident. The 47-year-old woman was not injured, but another officer noticed the altercation in the cell block and reported it to superiors.
Supt. Norm McPhail, the officer in charge of the detachment, says an internal code of conduct investigation is also underway.
"Police officers are not above the law. Where there are allegations of excessive force, those allegations will be investigated and the police officer will have to account for the level of force used," McPhail said in a release.
Brown, who has four years with the force, will remain on desk duty until the criminal and internal processes are complete. He is scheduled to make his next court appearance on March 6.
