Six-week demotion for officer who faked records

An Ottawa police officer who once accidentally fired a live round at Algonquin College will be demoted for six weeks in the latest round of discipline in a force-wide investigation into fake traffic warnings.

Const. Paul Laforest, an officer since 2009 and a former member of the Canadian Forces, pleaded guilty to one count of discreditable conduct under the Police Services Act in December for failing to notify a driver of a pair of traffic warnings he issued.

Laforest was implicated in the “ghost warning” probe after police began an audit of provincial-offence notice warnings issued by Ottawa cops.

The force discovered what appeared to be a systemic effort to bolster individual officer statistics by issuing fake warnings to motorists. The audit began after a stack of undelivered warnings, issued by one officer, was found.

Laforest pulled over a driver on June 30, 2015 for failing to stop at a stop sign. The driver was charged for that offence and, speaking with internal investigators, acknowledged receiving the offence notice, but denied being verbally warned for not having a visible plate or failing to signal for a turn — warnings Laforest issued against the driver in the police system.

The prosecution and defence jointly submitted a penalty of a six-week demotion to second-class constable to hearing officer Supt. Chris Perkins of the Halton Regional Police Service.

Perkins said the officer’s guilty plea and positive employment history were mitigating factors, but did note Laforest’s previous disciplinary record.

In 2013, while employed in a training capacity at the force’s professional development centre at Algonquin College, Laforest accidentally fired his gun in a lunch area, thinking he had a fake training weapon in his holster. The bullet lodged in a podium inside an empty classroom and Laforest pleaded guilty to discreditable conduct. He was docked 24 hours’ pay.

All 11 officers who were suspended or assigned to desk duty in the ghostwarning probe have been charged with offences under the Police Services Act. Eight have pleaded guilty while three have yet to enter pleas.