The former Langley RCMP officer who was twice convicted of assaulting prisoners has resigned and left the force.
“Volk has voluntarily submitted his discharge document, which was accepted and approved, and he will no longer be serving in the RCMP,” said RCMP E Division spokesperson Staff Sgt. Kris Clark.
Damian Volk was a staff sergeant and veteran officer when two incidents in 2020 came to light. After investigation, Volk was charged with two separate counts of assault.
In the first incident, in the early morning hours of July 1, 2020, a relatively junior officer brought a man back to the Langley detachment after arresting him for public intoxication. Volk and other officers were there and essentially took over the process of searching and booking the suspect.
Volk took the suspect to the cells at a fast walk, took him to the ground, and stripped him down to his underwear as part of a search. On his way out of the cell, he delivered a backward kick to the suspect’s head.
The second incident took place on Aug. 17 of the same year, when a man was arrested for suspicion of shoplifting. In that case, Volk again met the arresting officer as the suspect was being brought into the detachment, and abruptly took the suspect to the ground in what was described as a “controlled takedown maneuver.”
The two incidents were tried separately, and two different judges found that Volk’s actions amounted to assault.
Volk is scheduled to appear in court for sentencing this summer on both charges. He is to be back in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster on June 12 in the Kuzmanovic case, and on July 3 for the Petrus case.