A cellblock video of Roxanne Carr's treatment by Ottawa police nearly three years ago shows police dragging her in the holding cell at Ottawa police headquarters on Elgin Street. Her face is down and she's on her knees.
Ontario's Special Investigations Unit has reviewed the case and all officers involved have been cleared of any wrongdoing.
The footage, which was released to the media on Thursday, shows six officers surrounding Carr. A female officer pulls her hair.
Carr, who does not appear to be struggling, is then pinned to the ground and her arms are tied tightly behind her back with a black strap. The video does not have audio.
Once Carr's arms are tied back, police force her to stand up by pulling on the strap that's tied around her.
Clothes tossed out of cell
The video, which is stamped with a time code, shows Carr being taken into a cell at about 4 p.m. She is left there. However, a few minutes later six officers come running down the hall. It is not clear what caused the commotion.
Carr has claimed she was strip-searched. It appears that her clothing is being tossed out of the cell. However, the video footage does not show what happens inside the cell. The officers leave.
At 5:12 p.m., a female officer is seen bringing Carr a white piece of material. The officer leaves, and a minute later the material is thrown out of the cell.
The next video clip that was provided to the media was recorded at about 1:30 a.m. In that clip Carr is escorted from her cell wearing a white smock. After being released, she is seen in the stairwell doing her hair with both hands.
She is also seen pushing open a door. She tries with her right hand and then quickly switches to the other.
Allegations of abuse
Carr, who was arrested in August 2008, alleges police broke her arm and wrist, banged her head against the floor and left her naked in a cell for hours. Her lawyer says her arm was put in a cast the next day.
Carr was charged with assaulting police, obstructing police and damaging property. However, those charges were dropped in April.
The hour-long video of Carr's detainment was given to the media through a court order on Thursday.
Carr was not in court when the video was released. However, her lawyer says she wanted the video to be made public.
"When you see the video, you'll see that Roxanne was taken into custody and I think a fair viewing of it will be that she was treated roughly by police, that she was strip-searched and she was left naked in a cell for about eight hours," Carr's lawyer, Mark Ertel, told reporters on Thursday.
Video missing from court file
Last week, a judge ordered the release of the Carr cellblock video. The video, however, was missing from the court file.
Police had argued against the public release of the footage, but decided not to appeal the judge's decision. Police have said they never took issue with the content of the video, but with the process itself.
Earlier this week, police announced they would make a second copy of the video from the original images stored on a digital hard drive.
Acting Police Chief Gilles Larochelle said in a public statement Tuesday that he is "satisfied that the cellblock officers handled the custody of Roxanne Carr with the utmost professionalism, especially when faced with a crisis in the cell."
SIU clears officers
Ontario's Special Investigations Unit has already investigated the case, clearing police of any wrongdoing. The professional standards unit of the Ottawa police also examined the case, coming to the same conclusion.
"At this point it is now a civil matter. I'm quite comfortable. I viewed the tape myself and I am supporting the officers. What they did was professional, they did it in how they were trained and there was nothing wrong with the conduct," Larochelle told CTV Ottawa on Thursday.
He said he believes the public will also be satisfied with the conduct of his officers.
"I need to stress, this video was examined fully by the SIU; officers were interviewed and cleared. In addition, internally, our own professional standards interviewed and cleared (the officers). Let it (the video) speak for itself," Larochelle said.
Civil case against police
Carr is suing the Ottawa Police Service and the Police Services Board for $1 million. It's one of three civil cases filed against police for actions alleged to have occurred in the cellblock.
Carr's detainment in the cellblock took place just two weeks before Stacy Bonds was mistreated by Ottawa police. A cellblock video of Bonds' treatment shows her being kneed, pinned to the floor and strip-searched by officers.
Sgt. Steve Desjourdy was charged with sexual assault in connection with the Bonds case. He was also involved in Carr's detainment.
Police faced public backlash after the Bonds video was released to the media last fall.
Ottawa police have since made changes to procedures and training in the cellblock. Audio has also been added to surveillance cameras in the cellblock.
With files from CTV Ottawa's Joanne Schnurr
