Suspended police officers cost Hamilton-area taxpayers $14.8M since 2013
CBC
Suspended police officers have cost taxpayers in Hamilton, Halton, Niagara and Brantford roughly $14.8 million over the past 11 years, according to an exclusive database compiled by CBC News that surveyed reports about hundreds of officers who were sent home with pay after being accused of misconduct or breaking the law.
The investigation collected publicly available information about officers across 44 police departments, including Hamilton, Halton, Niagara and Brantford.
The research reveals 453 suspensions across Ontario for a wide variety of allegations including drunk driving, fraud, drug trafficking, manslaughter, sexual assault and intimate partner violence.
These cases represent less than two per cent of the approximately 25,140 officers currently on duty in 61 communities.
Several police services provided CBC with their total number of suspensions since 2013. Some of those totals were far greater than what CBC found through public reporting. By contrast, this investigation uncovered more suspension cases in Hamilton than what police services reported to CBC.
Since 2013, there have been 26 Hamilton Police Service officers suspended, 15 Niagara Regional Police Service officers suspended, six Halton Regional Police officers suspended and one Brantford Police Service officer suspended. There were no suspensions among Niagara Parks Police Service officers.
That's 48 officers, costing the public $14,808,400.
It's unclear what disciplinary action was taken for roughly a third of the 48 suspended officers, but the analysis shows four were demoted, two were docked pay, two were fired and two were forced to resign.
There were also nine officers who resigned before their hearings and three who retired before their hearings.
How long officers were suspended for, on average, varied by service. In Hamilton, it was 812 days — roughly two years and two months.
Other highlights include:
Police services have long faced criticism for the costs associated with suspensions but also for a lack of transparency.
Last year, privacy experts, police researchers and a former police sergeant told CBC Hamilton the public should be able to get more information in Ontario, the only province or territory in Canada where, until recently, suspended police officers would get paid.
New legislation was brought in on April 1, called the Community Safety and Policing Act (CSPA), which will allow for unpaid suspensions in some cases.
