Dangerous power

Re: Chief questions paying charged officers, July 4. The notion that one person, a Police Chief, should have the power as judge and jury is dangerous. To suspend someone without pay before a finding of guilt delivers a devastating and unwarranted punishment.

Ontario chiefs want the power to suspend without pay police personnel charged with a serious criminal offence. Police officers can be targets for malicious complaints, they are often cleared of charges, and like everyone else they must be innocent until proven otherwise. Suspending someone without pay before being found guilty is unfair and cruel. Leaving officers and their families under suspicion and without income is devastating. There are no shortcuts to a fair hearing and income should not be stopped without due process. There is a process in place under the Police Services Act that can lead to suspension without pay or termination, after a finding of guilt.

If chiefs care about saving money, they should reassign officers to other duties during an investigation, instead of unduly punishing them and leaving the service understaffed. The Police Services Act recognizes that police work puts officers in jeopardy of malicious complaints, thus allowing a chief to suspend with pay until an investigation concludes. That tool is now over-used by chiefs, leading to waste and under-staffing. The Police Association of Ontario advocates that, most often, chiefs should reassign personnel to other work, only using suspension with pay when it’s in the best interest of the public and service. If the chiefs are worried about a waste of money, they already have the ability to end it. But to suspend without pay is to sentence and punish without conviction. Officers are obligated to enforce the law and must be independent of fear of retaliation from anyone, including a chief. DAVE MCFADDEN, President, Police Association of Ontario, Mississauga