A female Kelowna RCMP officer, seen on surveillance video dragging a young woman down a hallway and stepping on her head during a wellness check will get no jail time for the assault..Const. Lacy Browning was in court on Monday to learn how much time she will serve for assaulting a UBC Okanagan student back in January 2020 during a wellness check..Browning was given a two-year conditional discharge for assaulting Mona Wang..Wang was a nursing student at the University of BC's Okanagan campus in Kelowna at the time of the incident..Provincial Court Judge Roy Dickey said on Monday the conditional sentence and lack of incarceration should not be seen as condoning Browning’s treatment of Wang..“Constable Browning’s actions were criminal and highly inappropriate in the arrest of Miss Wang … her actions highlight what should not occur when a police officer is responding to a person in a mental health crisis,” Global News reported Dickey said..The lawsuit was filed after Wang's boyfriend called the RCMP in January 2020 to request the welfare check and alleges Browning's conduct was "abusive" after the officer found the student lying in a state of semi-consciousness in her apartment..“To Constable Browning’s credit, however, she has taken responsibility for this offence by entering a guilty plea, expressed insight and acknowledgment that she acted inappropriately, and (acknowledged) the negative consequences," Global News reported Dickey said..The defendants said Browning used no more force than was reasonable and necessary..In June, the RCMP announced a settlement had been reached in the lawsuit. The statement of claim filed in BC Supreme Court alleged that Wang was injured during the wellness check conducted by Browning in January 2020..Global News reported Dickey noted in his decision that Browning was suffering from "cumulative trauma" and "stress from the job" at the time of the assault..“This firestorm has resulted in Constable Browning suffering from debilitating stress, paranoia, anxiety, medical complications and depression,” Global News reported Dickey said..The release of the video of the assault was apparently the cause of the Browning's mental breakdown..In the video, Wang is being restrained by the Mountie and was dragged, face down, on a carpeted hallway. The video then showed Browning stepping on the back of the handcuffed woman’s head..The backlash on social media from the video took a toll on the Mountie..“She has been prescribed medication to address these issues. The threats were serious enough for her to move to another community," Dickey told CBC News..Browning pleaded guilty in November, 2022, reversing the not-guilty plea she entered in January 2022..Before the Mountie was charged, Wang said in a notice of claim that came ahead of that settlement she was in mental distress on Jan. 20, 2020..“Browning proceeded to assault the plaintiff by stepping on the plaintiff’s arm,” the lawsuit alleged.“Browning kicked the plaintiff in the stomach while the plaintiff was lying on the bathroom floor semi-conscious.”.The civil suit also claimed the Mountie told Wang to “stop being dramatic” and called her a “stupid idiot.”.In an agreed statement of facts, the court heard Browning was told Wang was coming down from crystal meth..The Mountie said she used necessary force and claimed that Wang had a box cutter with her..A statement of defence obtained by CBC News also alleges the student began yelling and swinging her arms at Browning, who proceeded to strike Wang with an open palm in order to subdue and arrest her under the Mental Health Act..With the two-year conditional discharge handed down, Browning must complete 160 hours of community work as part of her sentence..She was ordered to keep the peace and is prohibited from making contact with Wang..Once those conditions and service requirements are met she will not have a criminal record.
