A recently published report from the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner (OPCC) has revealed an internal investigation into the Saanich Police Department which resulted in an officer’s early retirement.
According to this report, the officer in question would physically stalk his former police partner, showing up to her house while on duty.
In addition to this, it was determined this officer was using Saanich Police resources in order to find out where her newly updated address was.
An external police agency conducted an investigation into the officer in question and found that the allegations against him were true and furthermore, they found the officer had lied to them throughout their investigation of his actions.
“In addition to the unwanted contact, the investigation revealed that the member had used police databases to run checks on his former partner and members of her family, and subsequently misled the Police Act investigators over the extent to which this had occurred,” reads the OPCC report.
Following the investigation, the disciplinary process was set to begin for this officer who had breached protocol and misused police resources; however, the process was unable to proceed as planned.
The officer “retired” prior to the disciplinary process beginning—an occurrence that is common when officers breach protocol in such ways that will lead to their dismissal based on other misconduct cases the OPCC handled over the last year.
Related:
“The Discipline Authority determined the conduct of the member to be “egregiously serious” and that his actions went beyond passive contact and would otherwise be considered in similar police investigations as harassment or stalking,” reads the OPCC report.
“The Discipline Authority noted that ‘overt acts of stalking in intimate partner violence investigations are considered a significant risk factor, particularly over the course of such a long period of time.’”
It was found during the investigation that he used the Saanich Police database 92 times to keep tabs on his former partner.
Due to the severity of the officers stalking, the Dismissal Authority found that his employment needed to be terminated.
According to the OPCC report, regardless of the fact that the officer retired to try to avoid this being attached to his name, his service record will reflect dismissal from the Saanich Police Department.
Victoria Buzz has reached out to the Saanich Police Department for comment, but as of this publication they have not responded.
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