Calgary police want Police Act reforms, chief says

A former Calgary police sergeant who was suspended with pay following an incident in 2008collected more than $600,000 before he was fired thanks in part to the "draconian" processes needed to handlepersonnelissues in the force.

Sgt. AnthonyBrailewas dismissed by the servicelast week afteradmitting to nine counts of professional misconduct. Hewas also found to have committedseveral Police Service Regulation offences.

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Calgary police chief RogerChaffinsaid his force is now working to update the Police Act, which is the legislation governingpolicing the in the province.

"When amemberis accused of misconduct under the act, a very specificprocessstarts to kick in,"Chaffintold reporters on Wednesday.

"That process,particularlyin very serious matters like the one that was before us, can be extremely long and litigious."

In December 2008,Brailewas responsible for initiating a high-speedchase that was contrary to police policy thatresulted in a cab driver being seriously injured. He wassuspended with pay following the incident andultimately pleaded guilty to a charge of careless driving under the Traffic Safety Act in 2013.

Chaffincalled the length of time between the initial incident andBraile'sdismissal "unreasonable."

"I look at comments that the media has had and the public has had, and you'll find policing agrees," he said."We actually also find the time delays unreasonable and not serving the interests of the employees, not serving the interest of the public and not serving the interests of policing."

As a Level II sergeant within the police force,Brailewould have collected between$111,072 and$114,400a year plus benefits.

Changes needed

Chaffinacknowledged the importance of due process for disciplinary issues, but said thatprocess is simply too long, adding that the length of time it takes for police to investigate serious allegations of misconduct "draconian."

"These are features of policing that are probably out of sync with contemporary society," Chaffin said, pointing to investigations by ASIRTthe police watchdogthat often last a year or more.

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"These are things that we need to fix in this province," he said."We need to fix it for the community, we need to fix it for our membership and we need to fix it for the relevance of policing."

Chaffinsaid police are working with the system they have and are trying to find better ways to move through it. He has also slightlyreorganized service to allow one area to focus on how to address reforms to the Police Act.