Board suspends deputy chief with pay
Sanction comes more than a week after official was implicated by watchdog
Ottawa police Deputy Chief Uday Jaswal is suspended effective immediately, the police board announced after a special in-camera meeting via teleconference Saturday.
The sanction came more than a week after Jaswal was charged with serious misconduct by the civilian police watchdog, which accused him of sexual harassment and assault of a civilian employee of the Ottawa Police Service.
In a statement, the board said that, “in light of the nature of the charges,” it is suspending Jaswal with pay “pending the outcome” of a disciplinary hearing against him.
The resolution the board passed in order to suspend Jaswal made mention of the board’s commitment to ensure ” a positive and harassment-free workplace for its members” and added that the board was “committed to maintaining trust and confidence in the integrity of the Ottawa Police Service, in the eyes of the public and of (its) members.”
Jaswal was served notice by the Ontario Civilian Police Commission on March 13 that he had been charged with insubordination and two counts of discreditable conduct under the Police Services Act.
The police board, Jaswal’s employer, was notified on Monday and, though the board had cancelled its monthly meeting scheduled for next week amid COVID -19 measures, planned to conduct a special meeting Wednesday.
But, because of the pandemic, that special meeting could not be attended by enough board members in person to meet quorum requirements. The board said last
Wednesday that it was awaiting changes to provincial legislation to allow members to meet electronically.
The next day the Ontario government passed emergency legislation that gave city committees and boards the authority to meet remotely.
The allegations against Jaswal were made by an Ottawa police civilian employee in an Ontario human rights complaint filed in August 2019. In the complaint, the woman alleged Jaswal targeted her as easy prey after learning she had been a sexual assault victim and that he made repeated unwanted sexual advances. When those advances were spurned, the woman alleged, Jaswal sabotaged her attempts to become a police officer. The woman also alleged he touched her during a colleague’s retirement party in January 2020.
Jaswal has defended himself against the allegations, admitting in his response to the complaint that he did have a romantic interest in the woman, but never sexually harassed her or attempted to thwart her effort to become a police officer. Any touching that was unwanted was unintentional and apologized for, Jaswal said. He also said he was the victim of an extortion attempt by the husband of his accuser, who, Jaswal alleged, threatened to expose text messages between the deputy chief and his wife if she wasn’t hired as a police officer.
According to the charges, the OCPC alleges that, between June 2015 and January 2019 — while Jaswal communicated with the woman by text message, over the phone and in person — he ought to have known that his conduct toward the complainant in the workplace was unwelcome. That communication and the incident in which he touched her was sexual harassment as defined by the police service’s policy, the watchdog alleges. That policy defines harassment as any “unwanted sexual attention, physical contact, or offensive, derogatory, abusive or obscene comments, gestures, jokes, and writing of a sexual nature.”
For that, Jaswal was charged with insubordination for failing to comply with policy and with discreditable conduct under the Police Services Act.
He is further charged with a count of discreditable conduct for ‘having non-consensual contact with her in the stomach and rib area at a police social function.” The OCPC alleges that Jaswal assaulted the woman and that behaviour is likely to bring discredit to the police service.
None of the allegations against Jaswal has been tested. syogaretnam@postmedia.com twitter.com/shaaminiwhy
The woman alleged Jaswal targeted her as easy prey after learning she had been a sexual assault victim and that he made repeated unwanted sexual advances.