VANCOUVER -- A Surrey RCMP officer has been arrested after a criminal investigation, Mounties confirmed Saturday.
BC RCMP spokesperson Dawn Roberts told CTV News the investigation began because Mounties became aware of "information" about the officer, who has been with the force for less than two years and is therefore still in a probationary period.
Roberts would not say when the investigation began, but said it is still "active and ongoing." The member was arrested earlier this week and has since been released pending the approval of charges.
Police are not releasing the officer's name because charges have not been laid, Roberts said.
"I can confirm that (the officer has) been removed from operation and suspended," she said. "An internal code of conduct investigation is also underway."
Roberts said she could not discuss the nature of the allegations against the arrested Mountie, but said BC RCMP took action "immediately" when they became aware of the situation.
Former B.C. solicitor general Kash Heed, a longtime police officer, told CTV News criminal allegations against police officers erode not only the public's trust in police, but also officers' faith in each other.
"I've talked to young officers today, and they're also wondering, 'Am I going to be tarnished by the same brush because of the behaviour of this individual?'" Heed said.
He cited the recent case of Vancouver police Const. Neil Logan, who is facing charges related to domestic violence, theft, possession of a controlled substance and breach of trust.
Local incidents like these combine with Canadian and international examples of police using excessive force and concerns about systemic racism in policing articulated by the Black Lives Matter movement to weaken public trust in the police, Heed said.
In such an environment, it's important for police departments to have systems in place to ensure that they hire and retain officers of integrity, and that those systems are being evaluated and improved regularly, he said.
"There's so much occurring that is putting the magnifying glass on policing right now, we have to ensure that whatever we've been doing for years is enough, and we need to do more," Heed said.
The allegations against the Surrey RCMP officer are particularly concerning, he said, in the context of the ongoing Lower Mainland gang conflict, which has seen several targeted homicides in the last few weeks.
"From my understanding, this (arrest) is connected to some of the gang members that have been operating in Metro Vancouver," Heed said. "We're all attuned to it simply because they're taking place - most of them - in public spaces, so we're very attuned to that, and then when you have a police officer and the allegations against this police officer are related to his affiliation with these gangs, it's very, very concerning to the general public, and to police officers."
