Demonstrators gather at Sarnia police headquarters Oct. 24, 2020 in support of female officer (BlackburnNews.com photo by Dave Dentinger)Demonstrators gather at Sarnia police headquarters Oct. 24, 2020 in support of female officer (BlackburnNews.com photo by Dave Dentinger)
Sarnia

Demonstration at Sarnia police headquarters for veteran female officer

There was a rally at Sarnia police headquarters Saturday afternoon in response to allegations of harassment within the police service.

Demonstrators gather at Sarnia police headquarters Oct. 24, 2020 in support of female officer (BlackburnNews.com photo by Dave Dentinger) Demonstrators at Sarnia police headquarters Oct. 24, 2020 in support of female officer (BlackburnNews.com photo by Dave Dentinger)

At 2 p.m. about 50 demonstrators had gathered outside the station on Christina Street North in support of officer Jaime McCabe-Wyville. Some carried placards reading "Hey Sarnia police, I will not tolerate your behaviour" and "The power of the people is stronger than the people in power."

McCabe-Wyville, a 22-year veteran of the service, has made allegations of assault and harassment by a fellow police officer.

Lila Palychuk, the co-chair of Women’s March Sarnia-Lambton, said earlier in the week that the purpose of the demonstration is to raise awareness.

“Ideally what we would like is for Sarnia Police Service to recognize that they do have a cultural issue and that they need to make a plan to address it,” she said.

Palychuk disputes the Sarnia Police Services Board's claim that the allegations are being handled properly.

Demonstrators at Sarnia police headquarters Oct. 24, 2020 in support of female officer (BlackburnNews.com photo by Dave Dentinger) Demonstrators at Sarnia police headquarters Oct. 24, 2020 in support of female officer (BlackburnNews.com photo by Dave Dentinger)

“An outside investigation actually found that the threshold for reasonable grounds was met for criminal assault and harassment, but these claims kind of have been just ignored and swept under the rug. We’ve also heard recently from an officer with an ongoing issue involving systemic racism,” she said.

On Wednesday the police services board issued a statement in response to social media reports.

Police board chair and Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley said an independent investigation of the criminal allegation was conducted.

“The police chief who is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the service contacted an outside police force to investigate in Windsor,” said Bradley. “And the Windsor and Essex Crown at the end decided there’d be no reasonable prospect of conviction.”

Bradley said a subsequent investigation is underway into the allegations of harassment.

“That was brought forward to the Sarnia Police Services Board which acted immediately to have an experienced independent third party investigator conduct a thorough investigation. That investigation is going on as I speak today and we expect and hope that those recommendations will come back to the police chief and to the board by the end of November.”

Mayor Bradley asked the public not to rush to judgement and wait for the results of the investigation.

"People should wait to see all the facts being investigated and then judgements can be made on how this was handled by the Sarnia Police Service and the Sarnia Police Services Board,” he said.

The police board refused further comment saying it's an ongoing personnel matter and the subject of an active investigation.

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