Haiti case points to loopholes allowing cops to avoid disciplinary action

The caseof twoQuebec provincial police officers who retired before facing allegations ofsexual misconduct in Haiti has exposed loopholes that allow some officers to dodge disciplinary action, critics say.

• Quebec police retire before hearings over alleged sexual misconduct in Haiti
• Peacekeeping overhaul needed to counter sexual abuse

Some jurisdictions, including British Columbia and the United Kingdom, have introduced legislation to ensure hearings take placeeven if an officer has retired.

But in several provinces, including Quebec, there is nothing to prevent officers from retiring to avoid disciplinary action. The situation can be even murkier when the alleged offence occurred abroad.

Josh Paterson,executive directorof the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association, said the changesin his own provincehelped restore confidence in the police.

"It is vitallyimportant that individualpolice officers be held accountable when there are allegations of misconduct," Paterson said in an interview.

"We can't have it be the case that if an officer retires or is transferred to another force or takes another job somewhere, then all of a sudden they lose that accountability."

Holding police accountable

Marie-ve Labranche, a spokeswoman for Quebec's public security minister, said Friday the province is taking an "inventory" of other provinces and jurisdictions to see what kinds of measures exist to handle cases of misconduct once an officer retires or otherwise leaves the job.

Labranche wouldn't commit to any changes and referred questions about the two specific cases to the Sret du Qubec.

OnThursday,CBC News reported that aSretduQubecsergeant under investigation for sleeping with Haitian women while working as a United Nations peacekeeperwas able to evadea disciplinaryhearing by retiring days before the hearing was to begin.

In another case, an SQ sergeant who allegedly solicited sex from a Haitian prostituteretired last yearbefore the police forcehad scheduled hisdisciplinary hearing.

Both men will collect full pensions and neither one will face any sanctions.

Haitian radio host slams police force's handling of allegations

8 years ago

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Jean Fils Aim, director of programming at CPAM, says the handling of the allegations makes him feel Haiti is treated like a "garbage can."

TheRCMP, which oversees Canada's UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH),strictly prohibits sexual relations with members of the local population, due to "the difference in real or perceived power and authority."

Both theRCMPandCanada's Global Affairs Department told CBC News that "disciplinaryactionfor misconduct is the responsibility of the officer's home policeservice" if and when a policeofficer is repatriated.

SQCapt. GuyLapointetold CBC News that a guilty finding at a disciplinary hearing could have included a suspension, a downgrading in rank or firing, but once an officer leaves the force, the SQ no longer has the ability to take action.

Lapointecouldn't say how many police officers retire ahead of disciplinary hearings, which are public.

'Highest standards of integrity'

In British Columbia, the Police Actwas amended in 2009to ensure that officers under investigation who retire or resign from municipal forces will still be subject to the police complaint process.

The changes came afterVictoria'spolice chiefresigned in 2008, days before he was to face a disciplinary hearing due to complaints of favouritism.

In the U.K.,new regulations were introduced last year tostop police officers from resigning or retiring if they are subject to an allegation that could lead to dismissal.

"The public rightly expects police officers to act with the highest standards of integrity and for those suspected of misconduct to be subject to formal disciplinary proceedings," Theresa May,Britain's prime minister,said in a 2015statement, when she was the country'shome secretary.