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CBRP Obstruction Investigation leads to No Charges
On October 3, 2016, the Cape Breton Regional Police (CBRP) contacted SiRT about a possible obstruction of justice committed by one of their members. They were concerned a member may have either provided false information knowing it would be used in a request for a search warrant, or may have mishandled a drug exhibit.
SiRT’s investigation showed that in 2014 a CBRP officer was preparing an affidavit in an effort to obtain a search warrant for a particular target. He included in the affidavit information from the subject officer that the subject officer had seized a large quantity of drugs from the same target several months earlier. However, a file review found no record of such a seizure.
SiRT’s investigation included statements taken from the target and the subject officer, who cooperated with the investigation when not required to do so. SiRT concluded that there was no evidence that any drugs were seized in the earlier search, and that the recording of details by the officer writing the affidavit appeared to contain errors. The most likely conclusion to be drawn from the facts was that the officer misunderstood what was told to him by the subject officer. The evidence against the subject officer fell well short of providing reasonable grounds to lay a charge.
A complete copy of the report is available at http://sirt.novascotia.ca.
SIRT is responsible for investigating all serious incidents involving police in Nova Scotia. Investigations are under the direction and control of independent civilian director Ron MacDonald, who is solely responsible for decisions respecting the laying of any charge.
Media Contact:
Ron MacDonald, QC
Director
902-718-9707
