A Waskaganish police officer is under investigation for allegedly assaulting a local resident.
Christopher Stephen claims an off-duty local officer, Brian Hester, punched him in the face and kicked him in the leg outside the band office on January 14 or 15.
Stephen says he had his injuries checked out at the health clinic, and filed an official complaint with Chief Constable Jim Hester, in the presence of Ernest Blueboy, the band’s public-security director.
Blueboy told The Nation a Sûreté du Québec officer from the Matagami detachment will come to the community this week to investigate the complaint. No charges have been laid yet.
Hester said through another local officer he didn’t want to make a comment to The Nation about the alleged incident.
But Stephen said the alleged assault left him with a sore jaw all day. “I feel the Waskaganish police Brian Hester, force members should control their anger. I feel the cops in Waskaganish have to be disciplined by the police force or the band. He didn’t have the right to hit me,” he said.
Stephen promised to sue if Hester is convicted.
Stephen said the alleged incident took place at 2:30 p.m. outside the band office. Stephen and Hester had been arguing about police practices inside the office, according to Stephen (who is a contributor to The Nation). When Stephen went outside, he noticed Hester’s snowmobile running, so he says he turned it off.
Apparently, that angered Hester who allegedly confronted Stephen outside. The confrontation led to blows, claimed Stephen.
Chief Constable Hester refused to comment on the incident. “There’s an investigation going on right now,” he said.
Ernest Blueboy, a former police officer himself for 12 years, wouldn’t comment directly on the case, beyond saying: “Everybody has the right to make a complaint. If it’s true what happened – a police officer using excessive force – maybe it was unnecessary. Even police officers are not exempt from the law.”
At the same time, he pointed out that “everybody is innocent until proven guilty.” He said Brian Hester may not be able to stay on as an officer if he is found guilty.
In general, Blueboy said violence is an important problem in Waskaganish and the other Cree communities. Only very rarely do survivors of violence actually make police complaints, which means the perpetrators usually get away with it, he said. That can be very frustrating.
“I think we have a big problem. People don’t want to say anything after the incident. Maybe they blame themselves or feel sorry for themselves, or they’re afraid,” he said. “I like to see people make a complaint.”
Blueboy said most of the time, the victim is a woman. He said he’s seen a lot of people going to the health clinic beaten up or cut. “I saw a lot of people getting hurt in my 12 years. I see the frustration of the doctors. What angers me is I cannot do something about it,” he said.
“They (the victims) are letting it go too often. It makes it hard for police to do something because there is no complaint.”
