Two police officers who handcuffed an Indigenous man and his 12-year-old granddaughter outside a Bank of Montreal branch in downtown Vancouver more than two years ago have been ordered suspended and ordered to apologize for their “serious, blameworthy” misconduct. A disciplinary decision posted online Wednesday said both Vancouver police officers committed misconduct when they handcuffed Maxwell Johnson, then 56, and his granddaughter outside the bank in December 2019.

“I have found that both [officers] acted oppressively in their dealings with Mr. Johnson and his granddaughter. The officers’ actions in arresting and handcuffing the parties was undertaken without reasonable and probable grounds,” wrote Brian Neal, a retired provincial court judge appointed to the case by the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner (OPCC).

“Two vulnerable persons of Indigenous heritage were exposed to unnecessary trauma and fear, and left with a serious perception of unfairness in their treatment at the hands of police.”