The Saskatoon Police Association is defending the actions of the officer who struggled to place 27 year-old Evan Penner into custody; pepper spraying and punching him in the ordeal.

The officer shown in the video is Korean; his wife is indigenous; his partner is indigenous. That’s according to the Association. In a release, the Association says it’s important to remember that the officer involved in the incident was in lawful execution of his duties and had been assaulted. The Association says that police officers routinely deal with violent subjects and violent situations. The police role is to control the behavior and end the violence.

With respect to the incident on July 4th, the Association says this was not a mental health call but a suspicious person call. The officer asked the suspect if he was the person who lived at the residence, the suspect said, “no,” and then refused to speak further with the officer. The Association says the man tried to flee and a confrontation ensued. The Association alleges the suspect grabbed the officer’s taser and part of the officer’s duty belt broke. At this point, according to the Association, the officer was struck in the face by the suspect who then attempted to bite the officer. The Association says the suspect grabbed an ammunition magazine from the officer’s belt and tried to hit the officer with it. This was the third encounter with this man on the same day.

The Police Association says the officer was never placed on administrative leave as was reported by the Police Department. He was given two shifts off to allow him time to make sure he was physically and mentally fine as this was a traumatic incident. He then went on his regular days off. The time off was not punitive.