Policing

Former top-ranking Quebec cop charged in spending scandal

Topics: 
Quebec, Policing, Corruption
Rating: 
0

Eric Thibault – June 4, 2013

A former top-ranking Quebec provincial police officer was arrested this week for allegedly receiving payments from a secret expense fund. Denis Despelteau, 61, faces counts of fraud, breach of trust, forging documents and theft from the government, according to an arrest warrant obtained by QMI Agency.

Investigators believe Despelteau was paid under the table from the account for consulting work following his retirement. The alleged offences occurred between January 1, 2011, and December 31, 2012.Despelteau, a former chief staff inspector, was to be arraigned on Tuesday.

Orangeville Police Act hearing proceeds, despite sergeant’s objections

Topics: 
Policing, Reprisals
Rating: 
0

Bill Tremblay – January 26, 2013

Whether or not charges against Orangeville police Sgt. Curtis Rutt are reprisal for raising concerns about the department is not for a Police Service Act hearing to decide.

That’s the ruling the hearing’s officer Morris Elbers made Friday (Jan. 25), after Rutt tabled several concerns with the process. Elbers said the issue of reprisal is not under PSA jurisdiction and should be brought before the Orangeville Police Service (OPS) or its board.

Disclosure dominates discussion at Orangeville police tribunal, again

Topics: 
Policing
Rating: 
3

Bill Tremblay – December 11, 2012

The prosecution for the Orangeville Police Service (OPS) failed to meet a deadline for providing evidence to Sgt. Curtis Rutt, who faces four charges under the Police Services Act (PSA).

Rutt was charged on Aug. 8, 2011 with two counts of discreditable conduct and one count of deceit, as well as one count of breach of confidence for interactions with members of the media.

Orangeville whistleblower cop allowed to question fellow officers

Topics: 
Policing
Rating: 
0

Bill Tremblay – November 27, 2012

Sgt. Curtis Rutt has been granted access to his fellow officers at the Orangeville Police Service (OPS) to gather evidence in defence of Police Service Act (PSA) charges.

Rutt was charged on Aug. 8, 2011 with two counts of discreditable conduct and one count of deceit, as well as one count of breach of confidence for interactions with members of the media. The charges stem from the sergeant’s request for a Section 25 review of the Orangeville Police Service (OPS), which would probe the service’s management and operation.

'Satisfied' Aussie whistleblower cop weighs future in the force

Topics: 
Policing, Child abuse, Australia, Whistleblowers, Victories
Rating: 
2
The following are selected extracts
Peter Fox

Megan Levy – November 13, 2012

A senior detective who blew the whistle on an alleged police cover-up of sex abuse in the Catholic Church said he had received threatening messages on police letterhead since speaking out on an issue that he acknowledged would end his career in the force.

But after Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced a sweeping royal commission into child sex abuse on Monday, Detective Inspector Peter Fox said he felt vindicated and satisfied that the thousands of voices of abuse victims would finally be heard.

OPP whistleblower still climbing out of dark pit

Topics: 
Policing, PTSD, Whistleblowers, Mental health injuries, Ontario
Rating: 
3
Bruce Kruger

Mark Bonokoski – November 10, 2012

When no one would listen to his cries for help, when countless letters were ignored or sloughed off, Bruce Kruger became an active whistleblower — leading to Ontario ombudsman Andre Marin’s blistering report last month that tore a strip off the OPP. This takes courage.

But Bruce Kruger — retired OPP inspector, recipient of awards for bravery, a cop who gunned down an escaped convict just as he was about to pull the trigger on his trapped partner, first on the scene after a fellow officer was shot thrice between the eyes and left dead in a snowbank, the list of ugliness long and unforgettable — no longer has the courage to sit at a table without facing the entrance with his back against the wall.

Canadian groups raise concerns at UN about shortcomings in freedom of expression and other rights

Topics: 
Access to information, Freedom of the press, Torture, Policing
Rating: 
0

Don Butler – October 12, 2012

With Canada's human rights record due to come under a microscope next year at the United Nations, five organizations have raised a red flag about this country's weakening support for freedom of expression and access to information.

The organizations - PEN Canada, Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, Lawyers' Rights Watch Canada, the Centre for Law and Demo­cracy and the B.C. Freedom of Information and Privacy Association - outline "significant shortcomings" in Canada's law and policy regarding freedom of expression.

Hearings for 3 Orangeville officers run tab of $436,000

Topics: 
Policing, Ontario
Rating: 
0

Dan Pelton – July 12, 2012

As Ontario Police Services Act (PSA) hearings continue against three Orangeville police officers, town taxpayers have been footing a bill of $435,097, spread over a period of two years.

Figures obtained through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request reveal that was the cost of legal fees and expenses incurred during the prosecution of Sgt. Curtis Rutt, Cst. Stephen Fisher and Cst. Peter Curtis between May 9, 2010 and May 18, 2012.

Police ignore letters of concern from watchdog

Topics: 
Policing, Watchdogs, Ombudsmen, Ontario
Rating: 
0

Mark Brownlee – April 23, 2012

It’s “troublesome” that Ottawa police only respond to a fraction of the letters Ontario’s oversight body sends outlining concerns about investigations into officers’ misconduct, said the provincial government’s chief watchdog Sunday.

Ontario ombudsman André Marin, who investigates complaints from the public with an eye to changing how government operates, first detailed the concerns in a report released in December 2011.

Lawyer warns Bill C-30 could lead to massive internet sweep

Topics: 
Policing, Privacy
Rating: 
3

Tim Naumetz – February 22, 2012

The government’s controversial Bill C-30, which would give police and security agents new surveillance powers over the internet and compel web service providers to assist them, could also lead to a “massive internet sweep” on thousands of political and social activists, warns a leading human rights lawyer.

The scenario is likely if the proposed Bill C-30, which the government has emphasized as legislation to protect children from internet predators, passes through Parliament and its new powers are used in conjunction with a new government counter-terrorism strategy released less than a week before Public Safety Minister Vic Toews (Provencher, Man.) introduced the internet surveillance bill in the Commons, Ottawa lawyer Paul Champ, a director of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Union, told The Hill Times on Wednesday.

Pages

Subscribe to Policing