25000

Aggressive Search of Community Agency

May 26, 2025, 15:37

**The account below is a community submission to the Archive. It has been anonymized to protect the identity of the person(s) and agency involved. This account is a personal reflection based on lived experience and opinions. All incidents are allegations not proven in a court of law, and the Archive does not investigate the veracity of reported incidents.**

On May 26, 2025, at approximately 3:37 PM, [staff member], the [position], was outside the [downtown community agency] building with youth and another staff member when two uniformed Edmonton Police Service (EPS) officers approached the entrance.
[Staff member], following what had been communicated from the beginning of [their] employment as [agency]’s standing “no police inside the building” policy (designed to maintain a trauma-informed, low-barrier space), gently attempted to intercept the officers. [Staff member] greeted them calmly with a smile and offered to bring out a frontline worker to speak with them, per protocol.
Before [staff member] could finish speaking, one of the officers grabbed [their] arms and pushed [them] aside, nearly knocking [them] down. [They] began bruising immediately and was left visibly distressed. The same officer proceeded to threaten [staff member] and three other frontline staff members with arrest, accusing them of “obstructing justice.” He claimed they were in “hot pursuit” of an armed suspect allegedly inside the building. However, neither officer had their weapons drawn, and the search was brief and careless, with no clear urgency or safety precautions in place. No one on staff had witnessed the alleged suspect acting aggressively or violently, and no weapons were seen.

Eyewitness (memory - reported over 48 hours after)

Edmonton

Boyle Street

Bruising

Physical violence

Edmonton Police Service

Cis Man

Blur faces/obscure identities

September 26, 2025