Over two dozen complains against former West Van officer: OPCC report
Posted November 24, 2018 7:53 pm.
Last Updated November 25, 2018 10:00 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
WEST VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — A West Vancouver officer has quit the force after there were complaints he apparently sent nude pictures of himself to women involved in criminal and domestic abuse cases.
A quarterly report by the Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner alleges the officer has engaged in no fewer than 25 cases in which he tried to get romantically involved with women while on duty. There were 14 allegations of “unauthorized use of police resources” and 11 allegations of “discreditable conduct,” which range from using his work phone to send nudes to offering women help in getting rid of their traffic tickets.
“The police officer used departmental work cellphones and computers to send communications, including a naked photo of himself, to the vulnerable domestic violence unit client,” reads one allegation.
“The police officer used police databases (CPIC and PRIME) to query this female friend,” recounts another.
And yet another says, “The police officer used his department email to send inappropriate email messages to the victim of the ongoing high risk domestic violence investigation.”
The officer, who is not named in the OPCC report, resigned while a Police Act investigation was still on-going. However, in each of the 14 misuse-of-equipment allegations, he would have received five days suspension, while the 11 behaviour misconducts would have resulted in a firing.
“The Discipline Authority determined that collectively, the police officer’s behaviour was the antithesis of what the police community and public would expect from a police officer. The vulnerability of the females who were the subject of the police officer’s attentions, particularly when considering our current understanding of sexism, power and culture was significantly aggravating.” the report concludes on the officer’s case.
“The police officer breached the trust of the public and police department to such a degree that anything short of dismissal would be unworkable.”
