B.C. police officer fired after calling in sick 25 times to coach hockey
An officer from the West Vancouver Police Department was dismissed for repeatedly calling in sick and then going to coach hockey instead.
The incident is one of two hockey-related complaints about B.C. police officers that were investigated by the Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner and detailed in its 2021 annual report.
“It was reported that the (West Vancouver Police Department) member called in sick for two shifts in a row. The member was then seen coaching a hockey game during the second shift for which he had called in sick,” reads the report.
The department initiated an internal investigation and discovered that the officer had called in sick 25 times over a period of four years (2015-2019) in order to go and coach hockey instead.
"I wasn't surprised,” said Kash Heed, former chief of police in West Vancouver.
“There's a culture of entitlement in that department,” Heed said. “(It’s) something that I had to deal with in 2007 where we had several members that were abusing the system … I'm glad that finally somebody had the integrity to report this individual who was abusing the sick policy."
Not only did he coach on days when he had called in sick, he denied it to his supervisor, says the OPCC.
The officer was fired from his position for deceit and discreditable conduct. Disciplinary officials from the West Vancouver department noted that his behaviour “would fall below the public’s expectations of a municipal police officer.” They also noted that employers should be able to expect that employees “not flagrantly abuse their sick time.”
That’s a sentiment shared by Debby Carreau, founder and CEO of Inspired HR, a West-Vancouver-based consulting firm.
"If you're ever thinking about doing something like this, never assume it's going to be private,” she said. “It's probably going to follow you in your career as you move along."
The officer resigned from his position before he was fired. But according to the OPCC, his employment records were amended to reflect the dismissal.
In a second hockey-related incident, the OPCC report says a Delta Police Department officer verbally abused a minor league hockey referee and then refused to leave the ice at a December 2019 game.
“The (off-duty Delta police) member verbally abused the on-ice official and projected himself in an unprofessional manner to other spectators, coaches, and players,” reads the report.
The report says he engaged in a “verbal altercation” with parents of other players, and refused to immediately obey the referee’s request that he leave the ice rink.
Many people witnessed the officer’s behaviour and somebody notified the department.
As a result, he was given a “verbal reprimand” for behaving in a way that “discredits the department." Details of the disciplinary process, shared in the OPCC document, say that the officer accepted full responsibility and “made no excuses for his actions.” He also “authored unsolicited apology letters.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Large numbers of New York City police officers begin entering Columbia University campus
Large numbers of New York City police officers began entering the Columbia University late Tuesday as dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters remained on the campus.
Poilievre kicked out of Commons after calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 'wacko'
Testy exchanges between the prime minister and his chief opponent ended with the Opposition leader and one of his MPs being ejected from the House of Commons on Tuesday -- and the rest of Conservative caucus walking out of the chamber in protest.
Baby, grandparents among 4 people killed in wrong-way police chase on Ontario's Hwy. 401
A police chase which started with a liquor store robbery in Bowmanville Monday night ended in tragedy some 20 minutes later when a suspect fleeing police entered Highway 401 in the wrong direction and caused a pileup which killed an infant and the child's grandparents, as well as the suspect, investigators say.
Freeland leaves capital gains tax change out of coming budget implementation bill, here's why
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will be tabling yet another omnibus bill to pass a sweeping range of measures promised in her April 16 federal budget, though left out of the legislation will be the government's proposed capital gains tax change.
Sword-wielding man attacks passersby in London, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring 4 others
A man wielding a sword attacked members of the public and police officers in a northeast London suburb Tuesday, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring four other people, British authorities said.
Man dies after suffering cardiac arrest while waiting in ER, widow wants investigation
When an ambulance took David Lippert to the hospital in March of 2023, the 68-year-old Kitchener, Ont., executive was hoping to find out why he was feeling weak and unable to walk. Some 24 hours later, he was found unresponsive in the ER.
CSE says it shared information on Chinese hacking of parliamentarians in 2022
While several MPs and senators say they were only recently made aware of China-backed hackers targeting them, the Communications Security Establishment, one of Canada's intelligence agencies, says it shared information about the incident with parliamentary officials in June of 2022.
WATCH Arnold Schwarzenegger spotted filming in Elora, Ont.
The name of the project has not been officially released although it’s widely believed to be the Netflix series FUBAR.
Eviction for landlord's use was legitimate, despite owners' partial move, B.C. court rules
A B.C. judge has upheld the eviction of a family from their North Vancouver townhouse, finding that the landlords did not take an unreasonable amount of time to move into the home after the tenants vacated it.