City officer has long history of aggressive behaviour

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This article was published 15/12/2020 (1374 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg police officer in the spotlight recently because of aggressive on-duty behaviour caught on video has been the subject of numerous citizen complaints over more than a decade.

Video of Patrol Sgt. Kevin Smith berating a motorist during a traffic stop and then issuing a ticket after being asked by a passenger in the vehicle why he wasn’t wearing a mask went viral on social media last week.

That was followed by 2019 video surfacing of Smith threatening to arrest a man asking why the officer was looking at his truck without a warrant.

In another incident, a formal complaint was filed against Smith in 2018 after witnesses saw the off-duty officer “verbally abusing” a coach and players on the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba’s under-18 girls soccer team.

IRCOM executive director Dorota Blumczynska said Smith was an assistant coach for the other team in December 2018. A conflict involving players from both teams erupted afterward in the locker room, prompting coaches to get involved.

The opposing team’s coach then confronted the IRCOM volunteer coach, an Ethiopian man.

According to a complaint filed with the Winnipeg Youth Soccer Association, provided anonymously to the Free Press, Smith got involved and told the IRCOM coach: “I am a Winnipeg police officer and you should watch out, buddy, you and your girls.”

Blumczynska said Smith’s position made his remarks particularly frightening to the coach and players.

“In that moment (Smith) weaponized his profession against our children and against our coaches… he made it abundantly clear that there would be consequences to them not as soccer players or athletes but as individuals and as community members."

According to the WYSA complaint, IRCOM also filed a complaint with the Law Enforcement Review Agency.

The Winnipeg Police Service said it "does not appear" the incident was brought to its attention.

“Senior WPS members have met with IRCOM in response to past concerns and are certainly prepared to meet with them again should if they’d like. Our doors are always open to working with and listening to community groups,” Const. Jay Murray said in a written statement Wednesday.

Smith was named in a 2016 lawsuit after a Winnipeg man claimed he was assaulted and his bag was illegally searched by officers during a traffic stop.

Rahim Dostmohamed claimed officers slammed his face into the side of a patrol car, complicating a surgical recovery and searched through his bag without consent when he was stopped for skidding through a stop sign in January 2015.

Smith was alleged to have searched Dostmohamed’s bag without reason, and another officer is alleged to have committed the assault.

Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Lori Spivak described Smith as not credible, “generally argumentative in the manner he gave his evidence” and “quick to disbelieve the plaintiff” during the incident.

Spivak determined the bag search was not justified and breached Dostmohamed’s charter rights. He was awarded $13,500 in damages for his injuries.

In a now-deleted and archived blog post first published in 2005, Alex Reid described an interaction in which he was confronted and ticketed by Smith after he made a joke about the officer’s parking job.

In a detailed description of the event, Reid recounted how Smith chased, physically threatened and ticketed him after he remarked on how the officer parked on the sidewalk of his street.

He said Smith became aggressive after Reid attempted to record his badge number, and told Reid he would give him a ticket. He later became angry when Reid contacted a lawyer for advice, and when he refused to allow Smith to search his bag and pockets.

Smith later served Reid a ticket for failing to signal right when meeting a moving vehicle, according to the post.

Reid filed a LERA complaint and fought the ticket in traffic court, which resulted in his acquittal. Nothing came of the LERA complaint.

In face of the growing tide of misconduct allegations against Smith, Blumczynska believes while the officer should be disciplined, the problem lies with the police service.

“(Smith) needs to bear the consequences of his behaviour… I don’t know that there is a place for him in what the police service says that they pursue in terms of the protection of the community, but my ultimate pursuit is changing that institution,” she said.

The WPS Professional Standards Unit is investigating allegations into Smith’s conduct.

The Winnipeg Police Association did not respond to Free Press requests for comment. 

julia-simone.rutgers@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jsrutgers