A contract is a contract, police chiefs insist
Peterborough officers keep jobs, get severance
• Peterborough, Ont.’s top police officers Wednesday defended the controversial award that led to them receiving severance payments despite keeping their jobs.
Police Chief Murray Rodd and Deputy Chief Tim Farquharson met reporters to discuss their recent successful arbitration.
Neither would say how much they received, but earlier reports indicated the termination payments to the two officers could total as much as $400,000.
Rodd told reporters their contracts made it clear that compensation was due them, and every party involved was aware that a payout would be part of the process of deamalgamation.
He added the situation was meant to be private and should never have been revealed to the public.
The two officers attended a private arbitration session, with the results made public in July.
Community reaction has been strong.
Mayor Daryl Bennett and some councillors have said the payout, which could be as much as a year’s salary apiece, would not come from city coffers.
They say residents are “disgusted” at what he called the police chiefs’ greed.
At the Holiday Inn Wednesday, Rodd and Farquaharson said the issue had been misrepresented.
They are simply abiding by a long-standing clause in their contracts that provides them with severance if they lose their jobs as the result of a change in the structure of the police service.
That happened Dec. 31, when the old PeterboroughLakefield Community Police Service was de-amalgamated and a new city-only force came into existence. Both men were immediately rehired to their previous positions.
During the press conference, Rodd said he and Farquharson were “headhunted” by other police services, but chose to stay in Peterborough.
Rodd said anyone who understands contracts would accept the outcome, but acknowledged there are some people in the community who will just not accept it.
He also acknowledged that their reputations have suffered as a result of the situation.
The two provided media with a thick package containing a redacted version of their contracts along with
I would be asking for the chief and deputy chief ’s resignation
media coverage and other documentation.
Asked for a comment Wednesday, Mayor Bennett said, “If I had the opportunity, I would be asking for the chief and deputy chief ’s resignation.”
“The clause in the contract was clearly designed for a force being taken over by another force, via the Ontario Provincial Police. It is a sad day for the city of Peterborough.”
He has also argued it was never intended to be used in this fashion.
“It’s a travesty,” said Bennett, who has feuded with Rodd for several years.
“There was never any fear, nor was there any distribution to their paycheque. Therefore to ask for the (severance) clause to be invoked in itself is problematic.”