A Durham Regional Police officer has been charged with assault following an incident during an arrest. Police did not release additional details regarding the time and place of the alleged incident. Const. Brandon Welsh-Battiste was charged with assault, police said in a news release on Friday. Battiste has been a member of the force for three years, according to the news release. Police said Battiste was released on an undertaking and was reassigned to administrative duties “until court proceedings are complete,” which is then followed by an investigation under the Community Safety and Policing Act. In a statement to CTV News, Kristy Denette, a spokesperson for the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), said they were not part of the investigation. “I suspect it is because there was no serious injury involved that would invoke our mandate,” Denette said. The SIU is only called to investigate whenever the actions of police result in death, serious injury, sexual assault, and/or the discharge of a firearm at a person.
