Officers Disciplined; Three Males, One Female Investigated

December 23, 2008 Abstract The police service will not identify the officers because the conduct is not criminal and doesn't involve sexual harassment, she said. Supt. Mark Chatterbok, president of the police service's executive officers association, and Sgt. Stan Goertzen, president of the City Police Association, declined comment on the disciplinary actions. SASKATOON POLICE FORCE Police Chief Clive Weighill has demoted one officer and suspended two others without pay after an internal investigation found "inappropriate behaviour" between the three male officers and a female officer. The behaviour took place during working hours in the police station, said police service spokesperson Alyson Edwards. The disciplinary actions are part of an ongoing investigation that includes the conduct of the female officer, said Edwards, who responded to an interview request on Weighill's behalf. One of the suspended officers loses pay for a month while the other is suspended without pay for one week. Edwards would not clarify the conduct for which the officers have been suspended or say how many other officers are under investigation. The police service will not identify the officers because the conduct is not criminal and doesn't involve sexual harassment, she said. The police service would not normally make results of an internal investigation public at all, Edwards said. "This is an internal issue. There's no criminal activity here at all. It's like any other workplace. There are privacy issues." But Edwards adds the police service is a different kind of workplace. "Inappropriate behaviour might occur in the workplace in general but we as a service have absolutely no tolerance for it. . . . We understand that the public expects more of our officers than they would an average citizen. We understand we're held to a higher standard and we have zero tolerance for this and that's why the chief has been dealing with this so swiftly." One suspension and the demotion took effect last week, while the other suspension was handed down Monday. The investigation began about a month ago. The officers have accepted the disciplinary action, so there will be no hearings, Edwards said. She said she can't say if the suspended officers will keep the same areas of responsibility after the suspensions expire. "What we've said to this point is all we're able to say at this point because it's an internal matter." Edwards said the investigation is expected to wrap up by the end of January. Supt. Mark Chatterbok, president of the police service's executive officers association, and Sgt. Stan Goertzen, president of the City Police Association, declined comment on the disciplinary actions. Coun. Myles Heidt said Saskatoon police commission members like himself usually are notified by e-mail of internal disciplinary measures, even if the chief isn't required to disclose non-criminal matters. As of Monday morning, Heidt said he hadn't heard anything about the disciplinary actions. Heidt agrees with the police practice of keeping non-criminal internal discipline out of the public eye. "It's an HR thing and it's like any workplace, I suppose. It's personnel and that's why you hire

(Weighill) to do it. We never get involved with it." When other city employees are fired, councillors aren't usually informed of the details either, Heidt said. "You've got to have confidence in your leader to do what's right." Several cases of police officer suspensions have come to light in the past few years because criminal charges were laid, Edwards said. Const. Brett Maki was convicted in January of assault causing bodily harm and was later suspended from his job without pay for one month. Insp. Al Stickney and Sgt. Tim Korchinski were suspended with pay in August 2007 after Stickney was arrested by two first-year constables for having care and control of a vehicle while impaired. Korchinski was later suspended without pay for two weeks on an internal charge of neglect of duty. He was the senior officer called to the incident involving Stickney, who retired before facing internal discipline. Const. Matthew Ward admitted to causing an accident while driving drunk and was suspended without pay for 30 days in July 2007. Edwards said she doesn't know how common internal disciplinary actions not related to criminal charges are within the police service.