Peel officer demoted over ‘disregard for public safety’

A Peel Regional Police officer has been demoted after a “strong odour of alcohol” was detected on him after he was pulled over and charged with drinking and driving.

Const. Chris Cull, who has been with the force 12 years, pleaded guilty to discreditable conduct under the Police Services Act, and on Aug. 9 at police headquarters in Mississauga he was demoted from his rank as a first-class constable to second-class constable for six months.

The hearing officer, Supt. Colleen Fawcett, heard in an agreed statement of facts that on Oct. 1, 2017, an officer with Huntsville OPP conducted a traffic stop around 11 a.m. on a pickup truck that was towing a trailer with no licence plate attached.

The driver, identified as Cull, was unable to locate the ownership for the trailer. The officer returned to the cruiser to do further inquiries using onboard equipment.

Cull then got out of his vehicle and approached the passenger side of the cruiser with expired insurance slips for the vehicle. In speaking with Cull, the officer detected a “strong odour of alcohol,” the hearing heard.

The officer began questioning Cull about that.

“He said that he drank heavily at a wedding the night prior but had stopped drinking at midnight,” the Crown prosecutor, Lyndsay Jeanes, said in court.

Cull registered a fail on a roadside breath test and was arrested and transported to the Huntsville OPP detachment, where he was charged with excess blood alcohol, the hearing heard.

Cull pleaded guilty to careless driving and received a $1,000 fine and 12 months of probation.

During his probation, Cull is only permitted to drive a vehicle that has a properly installed interlock device or a police vehicle on an assigned shift, and his blood-alcohol content must always be at zero during the full 12 months.

The criminal charge was withdrawn, court heard.