CALGARY — A police officer who slammed a handcuffed woman to the ground face first in Calgary six years ago is out of a job.
Const. Alex Dunn was found guilty in 2020 of assault causing bodily harm.
Dunn had taken Dalia Kafi to Calgary police headquarters in 2017 for allegedly breaking a curfew. A security camera showed him throwing the woman down, her hands handcuffed behind her back, with blood pooling on the ground where her face hit the floor.
Kafi died of a suspected overdose in June 2021, days before Dunn received a 30-day conditional sentence that included house arrest.
In August, the presiding officer overseeing the disciplinary proceedings for Dunn found the two counts of discreditable conduct under the Police Act were sustained.
"On Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023, the presiding officer rendered his penalty decision, ordering that Const. Dunn be dismissed from CPS," the police service said in a statement Friday.
It said the decision isn't immediate because Dunn was a right to appeal to the Law Enforcement Review Board.
"As required by the Police Service Regulation, Const. Dunn’s dismissal must be held in abeyance until the appeal period has expired or until an appeal has been concluded. Const. Dunn remains relieved from duty without pay."
Kafi was Black and the officer white. A Crown prosecutor said there was no suggestion the assault was racially motivated, but urged the trial judge not to ignore race in sentencing.
The Crown appealed the sentence, asking that Dunn serve nine months in jail.
In July, Court of King's Bench Justice Nancy Dilts ruled that the officer deserved 30 days behind bars and that it could be served intermittently, followed by six months probation with community service.
However, she stayed the penalty because of the passage of time and the fact Dunn had already served his conditional sentence.
She said requiring Dunn to serve all or a portion of the new sentence would only be a "symbolic statement" that unlawful conduct from a peace officer in a position of trust will not be tolerated.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 24, 2023.
Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press
