Quebec City police (SPVQ) said Monday there are reasonable grounds to believe a police officer has committed a crime in two incidents following a series of videos in recent days showing violent altercations with the public.
The police service did not specify which incidents they were referring to when it published a news release about its internal investigation.
The two incidents were referred to Quebec’s public safety ministry. Citing the “exceptional nature of the events” and an agreement with the province, the SPVQ agreed to also refer the cases to the police watchdog, the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes (BEI).
Public Safety Minister Geneviève Guilbault mandated that the BEI get involved.
"My responsibility is to ensure that a strong bond of trust is maintained between our citizens and our police officers. The Service de police de la Ville de Québec has conducted its internal investigation in a diligent manner, which has led it to make allegations to me regarding possible criminal offences," Guilbaut was quoted as saying in a news release from the province Monday morning. "I am therefore requesting that the Independent Investigation Bureau review these allegations as provided for in the Police Act. I salute the speed and thoroughness with which the SPVQ acted in this case."
The internal SPVQ investigation, meanwhile, is still ongoing in collaboration with the Police Ethics Commissioner, police said in the release.
Last week, four videos surfaced online showing Quebec police officers engaging in violent altercations with the public.
The SPVQ announced last Tuesday that five officers had been suspended, with pay, following the publication of a video of a violent takedown of Black youth outside the Dagobert bar. Of those five officers, three were said to be involved in a second incident at an Italian restaurant.
Three other videos have since come out: one inside the Portofino restaurant showing officers kicking and punching a white man on the floor on top of broken glass, another showing an officer shove a man into a police cruiser while swearing at him, and a fourth appearing to show an officer throw a white man into a hallway, causing the skin on his head to split.
It was later revealed that the same officer was involved in at least three of the videos published last week.
At a press conference last Thursday, Police Chief Denis Turcotte didn't say if the same officer was also implicated in the fourt video under investigation, but said, "We will get to the bottom of this."
All four videos appear to show the same police squad, known as GRIPP, which is tasked with patrolling bars and restaurants and enforcing public health measures related to COVID-19.