Matt Gurney: Edmonton’s police owe the public far better than this

Two months ago, an Edmonton Police Services constable, Jack Redlick, was handed a one-year demotion (effectively a $15,000 penalty) for beating a suspect, George Petropolous, he had arrested. Petropolous, a middle-aged man, had been accused of striking his mother during a dispute about money. Redlick and his partner arrested him, and while heading to the police station, pulled off into a high school parking lot. Redlick took Petropolous out of the cruiser, walked him to an isolated part of the schoolground, out of sight of the cruiser, and beat him. During the assault, Petropolous claims that Redlick boasted that this wasn’t the first time he’d administered a little street justice on his own initiative. The charges against Petropolous were later stayed.

None of the above is disputed. Redlick and his partner at first denied the whole thing, but Redlick later recanted and pleaded guilty to discreditable conduct under the Police Act. That included his admission to this conduct in an agreed statement of facts. (His partner is now facing discipline for the attempted coverup.) When handing down the sentence of the one-year demotion, the presiding officer noted that the incident was “extremely serious,” but that there were also several mitigating factors, including the fact that Redlick was suffering from depression (relating to a suspect he shot and killed, but more on that later) and that he had an exemplary service record.

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