A Saanich police officer was fired from the force after he stalked his ex-partner, showing up outside her home and using police databases to search for her information in 2021.
Details about the dismissal were part of the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner’s most recent annual report, which was released on Nov. 15 and covers complaints that were substantiated between April 1, 2022, and March 31, 2023.
The annual report does not name the officer involved, but says that his ex-partner filed a complaint to the OPCC in April 2021, saying that he showed up outside her home despite previous requests for him not to contact her.
She was also alarmed that the officer knew where she lived, since she had moved addresses after they had split up.
The OPCC reviewed the complaint and appointed an external police service to conduct an investigation as the OPCC’s “discipline authority.”
The investigation determined that the officer had in fact used police databases to look up information on his ex-partner and her family 92 times, all of which were unauthorized.
The discipline authority also found that the officer had lied to investigators that were reviewing the complaint.
“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’s annual 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,’” the report added.
Ultimately, the discipline authority determined that dismissal was necessary for the misconduct, adding that “anything other than dismissal would bring the administration of police discipline into disrepute and [would be] contrary to the public interest.”
The officer had retired before the investigation was concluded, but the OPCC noted that his service record of discipline would be updated to say he was fired from the Saanich Police Department.
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Adam Chan
