Saskatchewan’s police watchdog has found a Melfort RCMP officer at fault for an incident in which he broke a woman’s arm last year during an arrest. The province’s Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) concluded there were reasonable grounds to believe the officer committed assault causing bodily harm while arresting a 38-year-old woman outside of Melfort Hospital. According to SIRT’s report released Wednesday, the officer also punched the woman during the incident. However, the report — dated Sept. 3 — said SIRT was informed by the case’s assigned Crown prosecutor that no charges would be recommended. Multiple calls made On July 2, 2025, RCMP received a call from a Melfort Hospital staff member regarding a woman who had recently left the hospital against the advice of medical staff. She was admitted earlier in the day due to mental health concerns. The same woman, who was still wearing hospital gown, had apparently also called police around the same time the staff member did, (4:12 p.m.) saying she needed help and didn’t know where she was before her call disconnected. The operator called back and heard the woman (referred to as the affected person in the report) crying before she hung up. Two members of the Melfort RCMP Detachment were separately dispatched to the call, including the officer in question. The officer who was subject to the investigation (referred to as the subject officer) arrived first at the parking lot outside of the hospital around 4:32 p.m. ‘Give me your hands now, you dumb f****** b****’ He was approached by the woman and eventually informed her that she was required to return to the hospital, lest she would be arrested under the Mental Health Services Act. According to the report, the woman initially agreed to do so but later changed her mind, saying she didn’t feel safe doing so and requested to call her sister first. Eventually, at 4:35 p.m., the officer informed her that she was being arrested and reached for the woman with his righthand. According to the report, she pushed his hand away and turned to run to a grass area at the edge of the hospital property. As she ran, she reportedly turned back towards the officer and hit him in the head, knocking his hat off. The officer proceeded to tackle her to the ground, with the woman curled on her left side, hands protecting her head. “The Subject Officer displayed a significant elevation in emotion, stating ‘Get on the f****** ground” and “give me your hands now, you dumb f****** b****,’” read SIRT’s report. The woman said “okay” several times in response to these demands and lifted her right hand from her head while the officer continued to say, “Give me your f****** hands now.” During this ordeal, the officer also punched her in the head. He continued to shout expletives as the second officer’s vehicle arrived in the parking lot. “You’re not going back to the f****** hospital,” he said while applying “significant” upward pressure on the woman’s arms with both hands. This caused her arm to audibly break and become noticeably displaced. Medical records show the officer fractured her right humeral shaft. The investigation As part of the investigation, SIRT interviewed the two RCMP officers as well as four civilian witnesses: a Melfort hospital staff member who called RCMP, a family member of the woman who had driven her to the hospital, a hospital patient who was in the parking lot during the incident and the woman herself. The patient witness raised the initial concern regarding the officer’s use of force, according to the report. Additionally, investigators combed through body cam footage, hospital security footage and all other relevant pieces of video or audio evidence — capturing the incident from numerous different angles. As a result, SIRT found “significant issues” regarding the level and purpose of force that the officer used, especially during the later part of the arrest. Under the Criminal Code, police officers are authorized to use “as much force as is reasonably necessary” in the lawful execution of their duties, but SIRT noted the officer’s actions seemed punitive and excessive — and were outside the protections afforded by the code. “It is difficult to reconcile the Subject Officer’s action of forcibly advancing the affected person’s already handcuffed right arm with the lawful and legitimate goal of securing her left hand, which remained on the ground near her head,” the report read. “The comments by the Subject Officer preceding this use of force, and the demonstrable level of anger on the part of the Subject Officer during the use of force are more consistent with that action having been applied for a punitive purpose, or as retribution for the earlier struggle.” SIRT also noted the observable decrease in the woman’s level of resistance, as shown by her offering her hand to the officer twice. For all these reasons, the police watchdog determined there were reasonable grounds to believe that the officer committed an offence — namely assault causing bodily harm. As a result, of its findings, SIRT submitted the matter to Saskatchewan’s Attorney General for review. On June 9, 2026, the assigned Crown prosecutor informed SIRT that charges were not recommended for this matter. “SIRT, as the investigative body, applies a Criminal Code standard that determines whether or not reasonable grounds exists to believe that an offence has been committed,” the report read. “This is distinct from the standard that the Crown applies in determining whether to proceed with a prosecution.” SIRT was informed by RCMP of the incident on July 3, 2025, around 11:29 a.m., one day after the incident. However, at the time, a news release regarding the launch of the investigation was not issued. “After considering the timing of the notification and the nature of the incident, SIRT determined it was not necessary to announce its initial investigation into this matter,” the Ministry of Justice said in an emailed statement to CTV News.
