North Bay Police Chief Scott Tod says he has called for OPP to investigate senior officers on his own service for potential misconduct and expects a report "shortly." One of those involved is a former police chief.
The action comes after an internal incident in 2017 in which it's alleged a thumb drive belonging to now-retired sergeant Jim Kilroy was taken without his knowledge, and files were copied onto the NBPS computer hard drive. Those files contained confidential lawyer-client documents regarding a legal dispute Kilroy was having with the NBPS at the time. Kilroy maintains it began because he stood up for a young female probationary officer who approached him for assistance with workplace harassment.
In November 2022 the Chief's office received a letter from a local solicitor representing Kilroy.
"The former member had alleged that currently serving members of the North Bay Police Service and past members had stolen or committed the act of theft in taking a storage device and other information," Chief Tod told BayToday.
He confirms that Kilroy requested a criminal investigation be conducted into that matter.
"In early December, I contacted the Greater Sudbury Police Service and requested their services to provide a criminal investigation into the allegations," Tod explains. "In March of 2023, I received a report from the Greater Sudbury Police Service advising that the investigation was complete and that there would be no criminal charges brought forward against any member of the North Bay Police Service."
As many as six officers may have been investigated in connection to the incident.
However, the Sudbury police investigation found there were grounds for criminal charges and approached two different crown attorneys to proceed with the case.
Police go to a crown attorney when they believe a criminal offence has occurred, and want to move forward with charges. In this case, for reasons unknown, both times the Crown declined to file formal criminal charges.
"Based on the report and the findings of the Greater Sudbury Police Service, I had requested that the Ontario Provincial Police commence an investigation involving any and all members involved in the criminal investigation who are serving with the North Bay Police Service into the matters of the theft of a storage device and the allegations that were originally made," explained Tod.
The request went to the OPP Professional Standards Bureau (PSB), located at General Headquarters in Orillia
The Chief says he has yet to see that report back from the Ontario Provincial Police.
It's important to note that the OPP investigation is under the Police Services Act, which only applies to active police officers.
If misconduct is substantiated by the OPP PSB, Chief Tod will then decide if the matter will be dealt with by way of formal or informal discipline.
Counselling and guidance may be considered for matters considered less serious.
It will be up to Tod to decide if the matter is serious enough to warrant stricter discipline.
If he determines this matter will be dealt with by way of formal discipline, a Police Services Act Hearing will be held. That's the law governing the conduct of police officers in the province of Ontario.
That hearing is a public, quasi-judicial process during which the hearing officer must decide if the allegations of misconduct have been proven on clear and convincing evidence. If an officer is found guilty by the hearing officer, there are a range of penalties that may be imposed ranging from reprimand to dismissal.
