Convicted officer to remain on duty
Lake Cowichan RCMP Const. Kevan Cranmer remains on active duty following last week’s assault conviction.
Cranmer pleaded guilty on Oct. 6 to one count of assault on at Nanaimo Law Courts.
He was sentenced to nine-months’ probation, which includes 50 hours of community work service.
An RCMP spokesman confirmed yesterday Cranmer has also been disciplined under the RCMP Act.
“I can’t get into the details of the discipline as that’s an administrative process and we can’t disclose the recommendations or details of the internal discipline,” Sgt. Rob Vermeulen wrote in an email.
The disciplinary action was the result of an internal RCMP investigation into the incident, which occurred while Cranmer was on duty.
“It’s important to remember that discipline is intended to be a corrective measure,” Vermeulen added. “I can tell you that, yes, he continues to be a member of the RCMP.”
Cranmer’s conviction stems from an incident that occurred on Dec. 13, when he was conducting a roadblock looking for impaired drivers with another Lake Cowichan officer.
The female victim of the assault was stopped in the roadblock and asked to perform a roadside-screening device test.
As it was raining at the time, the woman provided a breath sample in the back of a police cruiser.
She failed the test, and then proceeded to light a cigarette in the vehicle, court heard.
Cranmer then tried to get the woman out of the police car, which is when his fellow officer felt Cranmer was using excessive force to extract her from the vehicle.
The other officer, meanwhile, reported concerns about Cranmer’s use of force back at the detachment, which led to both the criminal and internal investigations.
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