Police chiefs seek flexibility on paying suspended officers

Source:The Observer
CATHY DOBSON

The Observer

Ontario's chiefs of police should have the right to suspend an officer without pay if a criminal offence is committed during off-duty hours, say Sarnia's mayor and police chief.

Chief Phil Nelson and Mayor Mike Bradley said Monday they support a new white paper submitted by the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) recommend the province amend the Ontario Police Services Act.


"It's a very touchy situation with the public," Chief Nelson said. "They're greatly concerned about officers collecting their pay while sitting at home doing nothing for a long period of time."

Many people don't realize the Police Services Act currently prohibits suspensions without pay, Nelson said.

Unlike most Ontario workplaces, the employer has no discretion to decide if wages should be paid when an officer is under suspension for an off-duty offence.

Alberta, British Columbia, Quebec and New Brunswick have already amended their police-related legislation to allow for suspensions without pay in certain circumstances.

The OACP has been lobbying the Ontario government for years for similar amendments with no results.

Sarnia currently has three officers suspended with pay. All are first class constables earning a minimum of $83,000 a year, plus benefits.

They include Const. Steven Wyville and Patrick Nahmabin who received discharges from the court last September after being unlawfully in a home, where they were looking for Nahmabin's stolen badge. The discharges left both veteran officers without criminal records and no jail time.

Unless an officer is sentenced to jail time, the Police Services Act does not allow pay to be withdrawn.

Wyville and Nahmabin continue to be suspended while they wait for a Police Act hearing in March, which could result in internal discipline.

A third unnamed officer, charged in November with sex crimes involving children, is also suspended with pay.

"I have no choice but to suspend them with pay. I am bound by the Act," said Nelson. "The general consensus with chiefs of police across the province is that they want the legislation changed so that they may, case by case, be able in certain situations to suspend officers for incidents that occur off-duty, as opposed to on-duty."

Mayor Bradley, chairman of Sarnia's police services board, agrees.

"When it comes down to an incident off-duty, it would seem to me to be fair and reasonable for a chief to have discretion," he said. "They may not exercise it, but they'd like to have it."

The integrity of policing is compromised in the public's view if a chief can't suspend an officer without pay in extraordinary circumstances, Bradley added.

Marc Toutant, representing the Sarnia Police Association, said he hasn't read the white paper yet but is aware of the public backlash whenever an officer is suspended with pay.

"My concern is that if a person is found not guilty, what then?" Toutant asked. "I also wonder if an officer would be entitled to seek employment elsewhere if suspended without pay." He said the police association has yet to take a position on the issue.

Sarnia's Police Services Board will receive the white paper for information only on Thursday during its regular monthly meeting at police headquarters.

cdobson@theobserver.ca