Violent Dunlop St. Incident draws Official Statements, Public Outrage

A violent incident between a Barrie Police officer and a 20-year-old male on Dunlop St late last week drew nation-wide attention and local outrage. 

On February 6th, a small socially-distanced crowd gathered on Dunlop St. with signs reading “#defundthepolice” and “skateboarding is not a crime.”

Multiple videos of the incident on Wednesday show a Barrie Police officer wrestling a male, wearing an orange safety jacket. In the video, the officer can be seen hitting the man repeatedly before striking his head onto a concrete sidewalk. 

Barrie Community Media spoke with Dustin O'Donnell, who works in a building next to where the incident occured. He provided multiple videos he filmed of the incident and a first-hand account over the phone. 

At one point, the officer can be seen holding a taser to the man’s back, saying “I’ll light you up.” 

Barrie’s Chief of Police, Kimberly Greenwood, called for an independent review into the situation. 

"I acknowledge the public's concerns being expressed based on the limited availability of information at this time,” she said through a press release. “I want to assure the community that any findings of misconduct will be pursued.”

Since then, the man was charged with causing a disturbance and assault with attempting to resist arrest. No further explanation was given into the events which took place -- onlookers said the male was skateboarding, and was approached by the Police officer after going through a red light.

After the man was physically detained by the police officer, a camera operator identified as a CBC employee put both hands on the man’s legs, seemingly in an effort to assist in detaining him. The CBC identified the man, who was wearing a CBC-branded jacket,  as a volunteer with the OPP auxiliary service.

Seven police cruisers arrived on the scene, blocking off the road. Multiple civilians filmed the incident, many yelling at the man to “stop resisting” and telling the officer “you’re hurting him.” 

Mayor Jeff Lehman and some city councillors have spoken up: “I won't be ignoring this, and once we have all the details, there will be full accountability,” wrote Lehman on Twitter. 

Councillor Keenan Aylwin posted a statement on his social media feeds as well: 

“While I don’t have all the information and the investigation hasn’t been completed, there are several things in that video that are unacceptable,” wrote Aylwin on February 4th. 

“There must be accountability for the officer who perpetrated the violence and for the others who stood by and let it continue.” 

Since February 3rd, videos of the incident have been spread widely across social media with over 70,000 views.