Hamilton police officer facing discreditable conduct charge in assault
A Hamilton police officer has been charged with discreditable conduct after he pleaded guilty to assault following an incident that saw him lunge toward a woman while on-duty last February.
Const. Ian Milburn, who has been with the service for more than a decade, faces the charge under the Police Services Act because he did unlawfully commit an assault," according to a notice of hearing.
That finding of guilt constitutes discreditable conduct," the notice added.
Milburn pleaded guilty to the assault in a Hamilton courtroom last November. The charge was laid in connection to an incident that was captured on surveillance video and shared widely online.
On top of the discreditable conduct charge, Milburn was also sentenced to 18 months of probation.
His probation had several conditions, including writing an apology letter to the victim, avoiding all contact with her (except in an unavoidable emergency), attending anger management classes and completing 150 hours of community service.
Three years ago, Milburn was named in a civil case spurred from an incident involving four other officers and the arrest of Rikki Jeremiah, a Black preacher. A Superior Court justice found that Milburn, along with the other officers, had subjected Jeremiah to an illegal arrest and assault while Jeremiah was sitting peacefully in his car on a downtown street in the early hours of Feb. 13, 2012.
The incident
In a media release announcing the charge against Milburn in May, police said two officers were called to a landlord and tenant dispute at a home in the area of King Street East and Sherman Avenue on Feb. 11, 2021.
A camera just outside of the apartment door captured the interaction between the officers and tenant.
The video, which was shared widely on Twitter, starts with two officers knocking on the door of an apartment. One of the officers, later identified as Milburn, appears to notice a camera above the door, looks directly into it and points it out to the other officer.
The resident opens the door a crack and says it's not really a good moment for me to come out right now." She tells the officers she knows they are there for a complaint from a neighbour.
As Milburn is speaking to the resident about the complaint, she interjects multiple times and asks him not to speak to me like that" while insisting there has not been any property damage.
Milburn, with his face pushed into the door crack, raises his voice, and asks if he can finish my sentence."
Eventually, he speaks over the resident, saying she is unreasonable" and won't listen.
Milburn finally shouts: If you damage his property, you are going to be arrested. So do not damage anything. Is that clear?"
As the officers turn and leave, the resident opens the door and says: Enjoy your bullying of a position."
Milburn then makes a swift lunge back toward the door as it is slammed shut. The officers can be heard chuckling as they then walk out of frame.
Months after the incident, Milburn was charged with assault level one" and placed on administrative duties where he wouldn't have contact with the public.
Hearing date not yet set
Milburn took part in a conference call with hearing officer Greg Walton and Hamilton police lawyer Marco Visentini last week.
Visentini said that he needed time to share documents and connect with the complainant to get a sense of her participation" in the proceedings before a hearing date could be set.
In a victim impact statement read in court in November, the woman involved in the incident - who The Spectator previously agreed not to name for safety reasons - said the assault left her feeling powerless."
A conference call to set a date for the hearing has been scheduled for June 20.
Fallon Hewitt is a reporter at The Spectator. fhewitt@thespec.com