N.S. police watchdog investigating after officer strikes 'vulnerable' youth multiple times

Nova Scotia's Serious Incident Response Team is investigating after a West Hants RCMP officer allegedly struck a "vulnerable female youth" multiple times.

Preliminary information suggests the incident took place on March 8 after a struggle ensued while the officer and a colleague were moving the young woman into a police cell, SIRT said in a news release on Monday.

"The youth struck one of the officers, and one of the officers struck the youth multiple times," the release said.

RCMP Superintendent Dan Morrow said Monday in a statement that the officer in question has been placed on administrative leave and an internal code of conduct investigation has begun.

"The member's duty status will be reassessed upon the outcome of SiRT's independent investigation and the code of conduct investigation," Morrow said.

The RCMP said it would not be commenting further, citing the ongoing investigation.

The alleged altercation was only reported to SIRT on Friday, the release said.

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