Edmonton woman Fabyan Deschamps says an Edmonton Police Service officer threw her to the ground and drove her face into the pavement during an encounter in August. Her complaint has been forwarded to the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) to be considered for a criminal investigation after she filed it with the province’s Police Review Commission.

Deschamps said she was with a group in a parking lot along Fort Road when two officers approached and asked people to identify themselves. She said she complied with an officer before he allegedly took hold of her and forced her down. “He grabbed me by the back of the head and then smashed my face right into the cement,” Deschamps said.

She said she later saw the extent of her injuries in a mirror. “When I came to, when I looked at myself in the mirror - it looked like I got hit by a bus or something.” Deschamps has been recovering from injuries to her face and back, while also coping with effects she says are not visible.

“Ever since then, I’ve had a lot of headaches and memory problems and emotionally really overwhelmed, ,” she said. She also described fear and anxiety following the encounter: “I’m scared to go outside sometimes and every time that I hear a police siren or helicopters. “I’m afraid something bad might happen to me.”

Deschamps said she does not know why the incident happened, but worries her First Nations identity played a role. “It’s not okay, just because we’re minorities and Aboriginal people or that we come from the streets. It’s not okay to treat us like that and kick us while we’re already down.”

On Thursday, the Edmonton Police Service said it was preparing a response to the allegation. NorQuest College justice studies chair and criminologist Dan Jones said police use of force can be necessary, but questions arise when force is used in circumstances where it is not warranted.

“There’s times when use of force is necessary for police,” Jones said. “But when you start to see the use of force being used in an unnecessary circumstance - is that a training issue? Is that a personnel issue? Is that a systems issue?” Jones was an Edmonton police member for 25 years, serving as a homicide detective, undercover officer, foot patrol officer and gang unit member, among other roles.

Jones said the referral to ASIRT indicates there may be more to the complaint. “The fact that it moves to ASIRT tells me that there’s likely something more to this from a complaint perspective,” he said. “This is going to be one of those test cases that determine whether the systems are actually working for the complainants.” Deschamps said she has met with an ASIRT investigator and hopes the complaint leads to something productive. The report included files from Global News’ Karen Bartko.

Based on reporting by Global News Edmonton.