Looks like your friend made it into the Province though.

Cyclist alleges being punched for no good reason by Vancouver police in arrest caught on video (Video)

One of my friends was coming out of the 7-11 when this was happening. According to her, prior to the punch, the guy was arguing with the officers and refusing to provide ID.

So this cyclist, runs a red light (no visible traffic is not an excuse for blowing through a red light, too many cyclist ignore road laws) , rides without an helmet or lights, gets pulled over, that's already enough reason for an officer to pull him over, detain him and in restraints if they feel necessary, while they determine his identity and write him the tickets. If the guy was being verbally combative and not co-operating/refusing to provide his ID, even more reason to detain him in restraints, while they figure out his identity and write him up for the violations.

Officer is trying to cuff him and he pulls his arm away, that is resisting arrest, officer uses force, justified IMO. He shouldn't be pulling his arm away and ignoring police commands, for all the officer knew he could have been pulling his arm away to reach for a weapon.

the guy (cyclist) looks like your typical asshole(running red light, no helmet & lights, way he talks), so not surprised if anything happened before the video that caused the officer to punch him.

As far as I know, no matter how serious a situation gets, an officer cannot punch or kick someone. It's not the appropriate law enforcement action to take on any citizen whether they're resisting or retaliating.

I think the cyclist deserves a ticket and the police officer deserves a warning of some sort given by his supervisor.

Under various use of force models and guidelines, an officer may use punches and/or kicks (hard technique/hard physcial control) to gain control of a situation when the subject is providing active resistance. Pulling ones arm away is active physical resistance, so again in this case IMO, use of force was totally justified.

What is this, a police state?
I wasn't aware you needed to provide ID in Canada.

Randomly, no. For the purposes of law enforcement, however, you are required at the least to identify yourself when you're being served with VTs or criminal charges. Especially when you're on the road, which is in fact a privilege and not a right, as many people believe.

You are required to identify yourself to officers. I don't know if that means you have to carry ID on your person at all times though.
There's plenty of times I'll leave the house without my wallet, IE when I go for a walk or a bike ride, does that mean I'm breaking the law?

You don't need to provide ID afaik, but it is illegal to give the wrong name.

Plenty of countries do require their citizens to carry ID at all times...

looks like he was pulling away & stiffening up and not making it easy to be cuffed IMO. i agree not sure how a punch helps. my friend had handcuff training and IIRC if there's resistance they try to force you to bend over and eventually to the ground where it's easier to control and cuff you.

i think the arm movement was not an act of resisting. To me it looked more like a natural hand gesture that someone would do while making an explanation; kind of like a reflex. Hes saying "nonono" while making the motion of shaking his hand but gets clocked before he could continue.
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In this case yes. When police have found you have committed an offense, you are legally required to provide your ID or truthfully identify yourself, failure to do so can result in a criminal offense of obstructing.

When you're charged or cited you have to indentify yourself, I'm not sure how you would do that without providing ID. I'm going to assume that if you have the right to not provide ID they can detain you until they find out who you are. How could they know you're not using a false name? Just take my word for it Mr Officer, my real name is Henrik Sedin.

You don't need a reason to punch a cyclist. So what's the problem?
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I agree, driving a car is not a right, it's a privilege. Part of the contract of being on the road is you must be insured, and you must have and provide ID and proof of legally being allowed on the road.
However, I don't believe the same is required of a cyclist.


Yeah, that was my impression too.
You don't have to identify yourself on-the-spot at-that-moment.
However, you can be detained for a supposed infraction and your person can be charged with x-crime.
I think my understanding is that you are allowed to delay this until you receive legal representation?


Either that or I watch way too much American TV. :lawl:

He didn't wear a helmet, didn't have a light on at night and ran a red light AND HE agures with the COP.

Smart move by your friend. You know something I never had an issue with an officer becasue when they ask me to do something I do what they ask even if I don't like it or don't get why I have to do it. Besdie the video shown here is only a small part.

Regardless of whether the cyclist is in the wrong or right.....he didn't do anything to warrant getting punched in the face.

If the cop give him a few extra tickets out of spite (no reflector, running red light, no helmet etc) because the cyclist was being a douchebag...thats totally within their rights/powers

Just looks like this cop wasnt good with dealing w/ confrontation.....and decided to take out some anger on this unlucky guy...unlucky for the cop that this was caught on camera...or else this would just get swept under the rug....

Hahaha cops downtown are pathetic. From gangsters getting into clubs with no hassle, to crackheads doing and dealing drugs a block away from the cop shop.

cops dont own the clubs, anyone can go in, if a gangster can get in line without waiting...guess hes just got a higher social status than you(or just knows the bouncers) :p

i dont see anything wrong with what the cop did though. when a cop is trying to cuff you, dont move.

they'll be as nice to you as you are to them from my experiences with them.

lol I think I went on a ride along with that cop many years ago

he may be in the wrong for all these things... but he got punched in the face... pretty sure anyone here would do the exact same thing if they got punched in the face, not everyone handles cops so nicely, especially if you have been treated poor by one in the past.

You're 1 sad ass moron if you think that justifies it.

Again I will say, under various use of force models and guidelines, an officer may use punches and/or kicks (hard technique/hard physical control) to gain control of a situation when the subject is providing active resistance. Pulling ones arm away is active physical resistance, so again in this case IMO, use of force was totally justified.

Could there have been another method of hard hand technique to control the resisting subject in this case? yes, but a punch is also an acceptable hard physical control method.

IMO excessive force in this situation of active physical resistance would be if the officer used his baton, pepper spray or taser, which would be used if the subject was showing assaultive or physically threatening behavior.

I don't think what the cop did was right and punching him in the face deff wasn't necessary
But I still hope that guy gets multiple fat tickets for no helmet no light & running a red
Fucking hate rude dangerous cyclists like that. I got t boned and came back 50/50 when it wasn't even my fault
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he's definitely resisting arrest but not to a crazy degree where he was snapping his arms away quickly then trying to run for it or anything...punching was bit excessive.

Then again he was moving his hands towards the pocket area even though it was a natural movement...I guess the police had to act in the heat of the moment just in case the cyclist whips out a weapon.