MLA calls for out-of-province prosecutor to investigate surveillance by Lethbridge Police

Phillips was meeting with Castle region stakeholders at the Chef Stella diner in downtown Lethbridge in April 2017, when the act occurred. The officers have admitted to photographing Phillips.

Woronuk also admitted to following a vehicle that was driven by one of the meeting’s attendees and looking up information related to their license plate using a national police database.

Phillips told Lethbridge News Now that she only found out about the demotion of the two officers on Monday.

“I think it’s fair to say that it reminded me that since April of 2017 I have felt unsafe in my community and vulnerable to personal attack by individual LPS officers,” she said.

“I still feel that way because it appears to me that these officers have not actually been disciplined in any way that would suggest to me that their behavior might change.”

Phillips said she had previously made a complaint against the two officers.

“I had lodged a complaint against these officers for surreptitiously taking photographs of me, [for] circulating those photographs online accompanied by defamatory statements, lies and conspiracy theories,” she explained.

“That matter was investigated; those officers were given a very light touch of discipline for that harassment of me. I received that report in 2018 and that was the last I had heard of this.”

Although she’s satisfied that the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) will be investigating the Chef Stella’s incident, Phillips said an outside prosecutor should oversee the case.

“That will actually get to the bottom of it and ensure we have the appropriate sanction.”

COMMUNITY SAFETY

Phillips told LNN that a demotion is not a strong enough punishment for the officers involved.

“No, I do not believe a disciplinary action of a mere demotion is at all reasonable in these circumstances and that’s because what these officers have done is undermine public trust, and justice needs to repair that public trust,” she stated.

“This is not about me. This is about people in this community, in Lethbridge feeling safe and feeling like they are free from arbitrary police power, which is in fact the foundation of a free society.”

Phillips continued.

“I think that it is fair to say that our community does not feel safe with these officers still out there on the streets and able to target other people that they maybe don’t agree with, politically or otherwise, using police resources and the power of law enforcement to target individuals for personal reasons,” she said.

“That is an extraordinary abuse of police power and requires the appropriate response and we haven’t seen that yet.”

SUPPORT

Since news broke of the officers’ demotion, numerous calls of support have come out for Phillips, including from Alberta Premier Jason Kenney.

Tweet from Alberta Premier Jason Kenney (@jkenney)

“I’m grateful for his support and I’m grateful that the Premier and the Justice Minister have said the right words, now they need to do the right thing,” she said.

Phillips reiterated that this is about community safety and said she’s grateful Kenney feels that way too.

“At no point can we tolerate, in a free and democratic society, that individuals are targeted by law enforcement for reasons outside of reasonable suspicious or reasonable grounds that they have contravened a law,” she told LNN.

“That is arbitrary police power, it is an approach to democratic and free life that we have rejected in this country, and we need to be vigilant because if one individual’s rights can be abrogated in this way, it does mean that there is a permission to do it in other context, and that cannot be tolerated because at the end of the day, what you end up with is a society that does not feel that they are safe in their community, and that’s my primary concern her, is that people in our community feel safe.”

Justice Minister Doug Schweitzer has said that he has instructed his department to arrange for an out-of-province prosecutor should ASIRT need legal advice in conducting its investigation, including the determination of laying charges.

LPS RESPONSE

On Tuesday morning, the acting chief of the Lethbridge Police Service, Scott Woods, released a statement in response to the demotion of Carrier and Woronuk.

“Although these matters had been conducted in public hearings, for which notices had been posted on the LPS website, we as a Service were limited in what information we could release to the public,” Woods stated.

“The misconduct and discipline regime under the Police Act and Police Service Regulation incorporates a significant human resources element into the process – it is not purely punitive in nature.”

Woods explained that police services do not have clear authority to release full details of disciplinary hearings and their outcomes.

“In spite of the limitations, it has become our practice to post to our website outcome digests that summarize the acts of misconduct and the corresponding sanctions imposed on the officer which was done in this case,” he explained.

Woods noted that since the information is now out to the public, the LPS has more discretion to comment on the matter.

He said the actions for which the officers were disciplined “cannot be excused”.

“The fact that they admitted to the charges of misconduct indicates that they acknowledge this reality. But acknowledging the wrong-doing does not take away the embarrassment and shame that has been brought upon the LPS by their actions, nor does it mitigate the justified anger and profound disappointment of Ms. Phillips and others in our community who have a right to expect so much better from their Police Service,” – _{LPS acting chief Scott Woods}

“To paraphrase a general comment I made earlier this summer, while these officers have indeed failed in their duties, that failure does not reflect the values and duty of the Police Service to the community. Our challenge as a Service is to continue pursuing those values and that duty in spite of the human frailties and shortcomings displayed by these officers.”

Woods said he is “deeply disappointed” in the actions and attitudes of the officers. However, he said he has taken some consolation in knowing the officers have been held accountable.

“The LPS took the initiative in referring the matter for investigation. The misconduct was investigated thoroughly by an outside agency, outside counsel was then retained to vigorously prosecute the charges and an experienced, well-respected retired senior officer from another Service was appointed to preside over the discipline hearings,” he said.

“The sanctions that were imposed against the officers were, to use the words of the Presiding Officer, ‘significant and on the high end of what may be considered appropriate’.”

He said that although the two officers have been sanctioned for their individual misconduct, all members of the LPS will “bear the consequences”.

“It now falls to us to regain the trust of the community that has been lost as a result of their actions,” Woods stated.

“Our challenge, as police officers, is to carry on, striving to demonstrate the principled, bias-free policing that our Service should represent and that our community expects and deserves.”

Woods explained that due to the involvement of ASIRT, the matter is out of the LPS’ hands and the service will not comment any further.

by Justin Goulet

MLA calls for out-of-province prosecutor to investigate surveillance by Lethbridge Police

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