B.C. Mounties suspended for 3 years over group chat are still being paid
A trio of B.C. Mounties who were suspended three years ago over their alleged participation in an "atrocious," "racist" and "horrible" group chat are currently receiving their salaries, the federal police force has confirmed.
In an email to CTV News on Monday, B.C. RCMP spokesperson Staff Sgt. Kris Clark confirmed that Coquitlam detachment constables Philip Dick, Ian Solven and Mersad Mesbah have been suspended since June 2021.
Clark added that the three men "are currently suspended with pay and their duty status is also subject to continuous review and assessment."
Dick, Solven and Mesbah are facing potential dismissal from the force in an RCMP Code of Conduct investigation. The conduct board's schedule indicates hearings on the matter will be held in February.
The allegations against the three officers stem from messages they're accused of sending in a private group chat for officers assigned to work in the City of Port Coquitlam, as well as posts made through official RCMP communication channels and comments allegedly made in person to fellow Const. Sam Sodhi, who filed a complaint against them.
Many of the allegations are detailed in an "Information to Obtain" document – an application police officers submit to the courts when seeking approval for a search warrant – filed by a member of the Coquitlam detachment's professional standards unit.
The document, which seeks authorization to search Sodhi's phone for records of the officers' WhatsApp and Signal chats, describes Sodhi's allegations that the other three officers created "a climate of harassment" and used the private chat to "make racist or sexist comments about their co-workers and the general public."
RCMP constables are typically paid a salary of $106,576 after 36 months of service, according to the RCMP website.
A suspended RCMP officer earning that rate of pay would have received at least $319,728 in compensation since June 2021.
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