Ottawa police tactical officer suspended after fist fight

A constable with the Ottawa police tactical unit has been suspended following a fight that broke out inside police headquarters on Elgin Street last Thursday, and sources within the force are blaming a staffing shortage for tension within the specializedteam's ranks.

Two members of the force's SWAT team were bloodied in the punch-up on Oct. 13, which followed anargument over scheduling and overtime,police sources told CBC News.

There were no serious injuries, but Const.Wayne Hollet has been suspended with payfollowing an altercation withanother tactical officer.

Ottawa police media relations staff would only confirm thatan officerhas been suspended. A general emailnotifying all officers of the suspensionwent out oneday after the incident.

Both Hollet and the other officer have been on the tactical squad for more than five years and havemore than a decade of policing experience.

Hollet'scase is beinginvestigated by the professional standards branch for misconductunder the Police Services Act.

The president of theOttawa Police Association downplayed the incident.

"In any large organization you are going to see members, colleagues, co-workers have issues. This is nothing outside of that," said Matt Skof.

Tensions have boiled over before

But Skof said Chief Charles Bordeleau could have avoided triggering an investigation and the suspension by referring the issue to the police service's human resources department, which could result in a reprimandbut not in charges under the Police Services Act.

Depending what the investigation uncovers, Hollet could be reprimanded, transferred or formally charged.

It's notthe first time tensions haveboiled over within the Ottawa police tactical unit.

In 2014, following an explosion during a training exercise which injured two officers and two paramedics,an anonymous letter to the province's Special Investigations Unitalleging senior officers were involved in covering up the incident was leaked to CBC News.After the letter was made public, the entire unit signed a separate letterrefuting the claim.

Just last month, the Crown stayed charges of criminal negligence and breach of dutyagainst threeofficers who were charged by the SIU in relation to the incident.

Staffing pressures blamed

Staffing pressures are being blamed for the latest flare-up.

Sources with knowledge of the incidentsaidthe two officers started arguingafter Holletwas asked why he wasn't available to do overtime for aspecialoperation last Thursday.

Although emergency operations, such as an active shooting, requiremandatory participation by tactical members,planned operations do not.

CBC News has learned that in the daysleading up to the fist fight, the tactical unit was unable to call up enough officers to carry out three separatesearch warrantsfor drugs and child pornography. The operations were postponed.

In executinghigh-riskwarrants, theheavily armedSWAT team always entera building before other officers because suspectsinside could be armed and could pose a threat to themselves or others.

It's the tactical team's responsibility to arrest the suspect and secure the scene before turning it over to investigators. Each operation is differentbut their executionrequires a minimum ofseventactical officers.

Some shifts understaffed

Sources tell CBC that recently some shifts have been staffed with half that number because of annual leave, training courses and injuries.

The tactical unit should have about 28 officers, including astaff sergeant. Currently there are two officers in the unit who have been assigned to other duties after suffering injuries on the job, as well as three vacancies that haven't been filled for months.

Skof saidhe's not aware of all the factors behindthe latest incident, but isn't surprised that staffing is one underlying issue.

"Our organization as a whole is verystretched on resources ... It affects patrol, front line, all the way up to our investigative units," Skofsaid.