Cop docked pay, transferred after pointing gun at colleague

A Kelowna Mountie who pointed her gun toward a colleague after being teased has been transferred and docked 15 days’ pay.

Const. Kristine Roesler described the incident as a moment of “dark humour,” but investigators said it was a serious and potentially dangerous misconduct.

“To enforce the laws we are sworn to uphold, we are authorized to openly carry firearms,” RCMP Insp. Colin Miller wrote in a code of conduct decision.

“With that ability comes a great responsibility to use them appropriately. The brandishing of one’s firearms due to being teased by a co-worker does not fit this description,” Miller wrote.

While Roesler had faced dismissal from the RCMP, Miller wrote that would be “disproportionate to the gravity of (her) misconduct”.

“I believe that Constable Roesler has significant rehabilitative potential and I trust she will not repeat the same mistake in the future and that she will hold herself to the high standard required of an RCMP employee in the performance of her duties,” Miller wrote in his decision.

The incident played out in the Kelowna RCMP detachment about 3 a.m. on March 6, 2019. Roesler was working on a report to Crown counsel, which a supervisor had told her she needed to improve, when Const. Kevin Hess began teasing her.

Roesler told Hess to “go away” and to “f . . off”, but he continued teasing her in a “good-natured” way, a summary of the allegations states.

Eventually, Roesler stood and unholstered her 9mm Smith and Wesson handgun. Roesler said she did not point the gun at Hess.

But Hess told the code of conduct hearing: “And it was like pointed at me. Like if it went off like I can’t honestly say like a hundred percent like if it would hit me or not. But I do remember seeing like the, the circle of the barrel.”

Roesler said she held the gun “in a safe manner, without her finger on the trigger, and at waist height”, according to the conduct hearing decision.

But Miller, after considering both Roesler’s and Hess’ statements as well as those provided by other officers who were in the room when the incident occurred, wrote: “I find that Constable Roesler did, while perhaps not directly, point her firearm in Constable Hess general direction which prompted him to react by uttering words about the size of her gun and her shooting ability.”

Roesler’s actions were “discreditable”, Miller decided, but not sufficient to warrant her dismissal from the RCMP. Roesler presented 10 letters of reference, including some from senior officers, with supporters describing her as “hard-working, reliable, (and) professional”.

The 15 days’ suspension of pay, along with the transfer to another undisclosed detachment and a requirement to undergo counselling, are consistent with provisions outlined under the Conduct Measures Guide, Miller wrote.