Police Const. Alex Dunn was sentenced to one month for assaulting Dalia Kafi — a young Black woman who was handcuffed at the time.

December, Kafi said she was still dealing with the trauma of the assault.

Kafi had been working at a meat plant in Red Deer and said in December she was focused on work and her young son. She saidwas still dealing with the trauma of the assault.

Sharon Kambale founded the Afro-Mentorship Initiative and was friends with Kafi, a woman she described as “a loving mother” who “always placed her son first.”

Dunn, 34, who was convicted of assault causing bodily harm for the violent takedown in 2017, was handed a one-month sentence — half to be served under house arrest, half under a curfew — by provincial court Judge Michelle Christopher.

“I do not find it necessary to separate the offender from society,” said Christopher. “This was an egregious mistake… his actions, while harmful, were not premeditated.”

While there was no evidence presented at trial that the assault was motivated by racism, both the Crown and judge have noted that given the current climate, an officer’s attack on a Black woman is harmful to the community.

At a sentencing hearing in February, defence lawyer Cory Wilson proposed no jail time for his client asking for a combination of house arrest, curfew and probation while prosecutor Ryan Pollard argued for a nine-month jail term.

In December 2017, Dunn arrested Kafi, who was 26 years old at the time, for breaching her court-imposed curfew. She was taken to the arrest processing unit (APU) where he tried to remove a scarf from her head to take a photo.

After a brief struggle, Dunn threw Kafi, who was handcuffed, to the ground. Her head bounced off the ground where a pool of blood quickly forming.

Kafi, said Pollard, suffered a broken nose, which required surgery, and a split lip, which needed stitches.

Dunn is also under an internal investigation by the Calgary Police Service (CPS) after CBC News received a photo of the constable in blackface at a 2012 Halloween party.

With the criminal court process complete, he will later face charges under the Police Act offences, and could face discipline ranging from a reprimand to dismissal.

In 2016, Dunn pleaded guilty to two charges of insubordination for breaching CPS policies related to accessing a civilian’s information for personal reasons and the home storage of his service firearm. He was docked four days’ pay.

Until his conviction, Dunn was assigned to administrative duties with CPS but is currently suspended without pay.