Officer charged over opioids stolen from police
At least 30 cases linked to drugs missing from a storage locker likely will be dropped, setting accused dealers free
A Halton cop who spent years taking drugs off the street is facing five criminal charges after prescription opioids were stolen from a police evidence locker.
At least 30 cases connected to the missing drugs likely will be dropped because of the evidence-tampering, setting accused dealers free.
Staff Sgt. Brad Murray was in charge of the Drug and Morality Unit at the Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS) and had authorization to access the locked storage area where all drugs seized by the service were kept and catalogued.
He was a high-profile member of the unit from its creation in January 2013 to May 2016. The thefts are alleged to have happened during that time span.
On Sunday the 16-year veteran was arrested and charged with two counts of theft under $5,000, two counts of breach of trust and one count of obstructing justice.
The case “violates public trust in the work we do and is an affront to the Canadian justice system as a whole,” Halton police Chief Stephen Tanner says in a media release.
“As such, we are committed to dealing with this issue transparently and thoroughly.”
In an interview with The Spectator, Tanner said there is no evidence the highly addictive stolen prescription opioids, which include OxyContin, have made their way back out onto the street or have “been sold for profit.”
Barry Hughes, president of the Halton Re-
gional Police Association, said Murray “is entitled to the presumption of innocence as would any other person facing charges in court.”
“It wouldn’t be proper for me to comment on the matter as it’s before the courts.”
The country is facing a devastating and deadly opioid addiction crisis, with many becoming hooked on the painkillers after they are prescribed by doctors following events like back injuries or knee surgery.
Murray has made an impressive career waging a war against drugs.
On his very first solo patrol shift in November 2001 he made the pages of The Spectator by landing a substantial marijuana seizure during a routine traffic stop.
By 2003 Murray was already working a plainclothes detail, a quick rise for a young cop. In 2013 he was tapped to join the newly launched integrated drug, gun and gang unit.
A year later he was running the unit, which expanded to include human trafficking investigations.
In March 2016, during the time the seized drugs were going missing and just two months before Murray left the unit, he talked to The Spectator about the pain medication addiction sweeping the area.
He said tightened protocols for prescribing opioids were making it harder for addicts to get their drugs of choice, causing a spike in pharmacy robberies and the appearance of bootleg versions of the drugs, including Fentanyl.
“Now those people are finding it hard to get the drugs legitimately,” he said.
“We have to find better strategies with doctors, pharmacists and including police to build an engagement model to help these people at a critical stage when they are coming off the opioids that they feel so desperate to commit these robberies.”
On his personal Twitter account, Murray several times retweeted media stories about opioid addiction and how it takes over lives.
At about the time Murray left the unit, the HRPS was leading and promoting a “Prescription Drug Drop-Off Day,” which encouraged members of the public to drop-off old and unused prescription medications at various locations, including Halton police stations.
“Spring Cleaning?? Safeguard your home by dropping off your unused and unwanted prescription drugs,” Murray tweeted on April 9, 2016.
The thefts Murray is accused of will almost certainly jeopardize 30 or more cases. Already “a number of drug-related trials have been stayed by the prosecution,” says the police media release. “The full ramifications of this situation as it relates to court prosecutions and potential withdrawal of charges will not be known for some time.”
The Halton Crown’s office previously sent letters to defence lawyers about the investigation into the missing drugs.
Concerns about that were raised in court as far back as January when Justice Stephen Brown, presiding over a drug case, said the uncertainty of the probe “potentially taints every investigation.”
The probe might also put many ongoing cases past the newly established timelines laid out by the Supreme Court’s R v. Jordan.
That decision says a case should be thrown out if the time between arrest and end of trial exceeds 18 months in provincial court and 30 in Superior court.
Murray is now suspended with pay, the only option available to Ontario’s police chiefs under contentious legislation that does not allow for pay to be withheld.
The investigation was sparked after a “drug exhibit anomaly was discovered” by members of the drug squad last fall, according to Tanner.
That led the chief to request an audit of the 2,000-plus items in the drug exhibit inventory by two civilian members of his service.
The audit revealed at least 30 exhibits had been compromised.
Tanner asked Toronto police to conduct a criminal investigation, which began in December.
“In light of the findings and going forward, the Drug and Morality Unit has implemented additional measures to preserve the integrity of all seized drug exhibits,” said Tanner.
“I am confident in the security of our service’s drugs exhibits and that no other cases or types of drugs are in question.”
The drug lock-up is at the Oakville station where the drug unit is based.
But once the new HRPS HQ is completed, the storage area will move into the new building.
Murray is to make his first appearance in court on June 27 at the provincial courthouse in Milton.
Tanner said the service’s Professional Standards Bureau will now conduct a Police Services Act investigation that could result in disciplinary charges and dismissal.