Disciplinary charges against an Edmonton police constable accused of ignoring commands from a peace officer during an attempted traffic stop have been dropped after the peace officer declined to finish testifying.
The Edmonton Police Service last Friday released a disciplinary decision withdrawing discreditable conduct charges against an officer identified as “Constable A.A.”
The case dealt with a Sept. 22, 2021, incident in which a peace officer in St. Albert tried to stop the constable, who was off duty and appeared to be using a cellphone while driving. The EPS constable instead pulled a U-turn and sped off, the peace officer said.
Edmonton police declined to identify Constable A.A., citing the service’s policy of not releasing officers’ names unless they are found guilty of misconduct.
Postmedia obtained copies of the tickets issued in the case, which identify the officer as Kevin Clark.
A former EPS officer who reviewed the decision said the case “sends a real bad message” when it comes to police accountability, and questioned why the peace officer was allowed to end his testimony early.
Officer pulled U-turn, drove off
The peace officer who issued the tickets, a special constable with the Edmonton Municipal Enforcement unit, spotted Clark’s truck while conducting traffic control after a collision on Ray Gibbon Drive and McKenny Avenue. Parts of the incident were captured on his vehicle dash camera.
The peace officer testified he noticed a Ram pickup stopped on McKenny Avenue a short distance from the intersection. The driver was using “loud profanity” and appeared to be swinging his hands in frustration.
“He (the peace officer) saw what he believed was a cellphone in use and as he approached to investigate the apparent cellphone violation he heard some swearing from the driver,” states the decision from Fred Kamins, the retired RCMP officer who presided over Clark’s disciplinary hearing.
“When the (peace officer) was approximately one to one-and-a-half vehicle lengths away, the truck began a U-turn.”
The peace officer shouted “hey” and “stop,” but the truck sped off. He estimated it reached 85 km/h in a 60 km/h zone.
When the peace officer called dispatch for information on the truck’s registered owner, a fellow officer noted the address belonged to the Edmonton Police Association, where officers are allowed to register their personal vehicles for privacy reasons. No phone number was listed on the registration.
Thinking the vehicle might be stolen or that the driver was trying to escape arrest, the peace officer issued a “BOLO” (be on the lookout) notice for the truck.
After the BOLO was issued, the peace officer received a call from an EPS inspector, who asked what happened and “his intentions regarding the incident,” Kamins’s decision states.
Clark called the next day.
“The constable (Clark) offered a different point of view, denied the observed behaviours, stated he was directed to make contact and phoned as a professional courtesy, which seemed backwards to the (peace officer),” wrote Kamins.
The peace officer said he explained his decision to issue the tickets — which Kamins called the “most serious and indisputable offences.”
Kamins’s decision offers no details about the tickets or how they were resolved. According to court records, however, Clark was issued two: a $243 citation for contravening the Use of Highway and Rules of the Road Regulation and failing to obey the direction of a peace officer, as well as a $324 ticket for a vehicle registration issue.
Clark pleaded guilty to the registration-related ticket on Nov. 22, 2022, and paid a $243 fine. The ticket for failing to obey a peace officer was withdrawn.
EPS charged Clark under the Police Act the following month. The disciplinary hearing before Kamins began Oct. 3, 2024.
When the first day concluded, the peace officer had not finished his testimony and was scheduled to return in late October. However, presenting officer Derek Cranna — who prosecuted the case for Chief Dale McFee — said the peace officer later informed him “he did not wish to attend to complete his testimony.”
“He was asked to reconsider but advised Mr. Cranna he did not wish to attend further,” Kamins wrote.
Cranna said the peace officer’s testimony was the “foundation” of the case, and that without it, the chief instructed him to withdraw the counts. Kamins agreed.
EPS declined to comment on the case, as did Darin Sprake, Clark’s lawyer.
Case ‘looks bad’: former EPS officer
Daniel Jones, a former EPS inspector and chair of the justice studies program at NorQuest College, reviewed the decision for Postmedia and said the case “looks bad on the police.”
“It looks very ‘thin blue line,’ very ‘The rules matter for you, not them,’ ” said Jones, who worked in the EPS professional standards branch. “These are the kinds of things that really impact police legitimacy.”
Failing to obey a law enforcement officer is “kind of a big thing,” he said, adding: “I know how the police look at it when someone is disobeying them: they get very, very upset.”
Jones also took issue with the peace officer for refusing to finish his testimony.
“It’s not like it’s a civilian, it’s a peace officer,” he said. “They have a duty to testify, and this person then walks away with no consequences for something that would have significant consequences for a non-police person.”
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