A senior Vancouver police officer has been demoted after an Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner public hearing into allegations of sexual misconduct by the now-former sergeant.
Adjudicator Carol Baird Ellan released her decision Tuesday (May 6) after the public hearing into the allegations against Vancouver police officer Keiron McConnell from several women who either worked with him or had been taught by him at various post-secondary schools.
McConnell was accused of sexual misconduct in relation to his interactions with seven women, including female police officers and former female students of his when he worked as an instructor at two post-secondary institutions. The complainants haven't been named.
According to the decision, he accepted responsibility for sexual harassment involving five women with whom he was in a position of authority or mentorship. McConnell also admitted to sending "unsolicited and unwanted" messages of a sexual nature and trying to initiate physical contact with a former student that was unwanted.
Baird Ellan said those admissions revealed a pattern of inappropriate behaviour with multiple women.
She accepted a joint proposal to resolve the case and imposed several consequences, including a demotion to first class constable from sergeant, a "substantial period" of unpaid suspension, working under close supervision and mandatory counselling and training.
Baird Ellan, in her decision, said the demotion "is second only to dismissal."
She also issued a number of recommendations to the Vancouver Police Department and Vancouver Police Board. Baird Ellan cited a need to create a dedicated workplace policy and training program dealing with sexual harassment and develop systems to prevent the victimization or re-victimization of those who come forward.
Police complaint commissioner Prabhu Rajan said the decision "emphasizes the necessary and appropriate expectations placed on police officers in how they conduct themselves in the workplace and beyond, and reaffirms the importance of denouncing sexual misconduct."
Rajan added the misconduct admitted by McConnell "does not develop in a vacuum."
"We must seek to address any officer behaviour that causes victims not to come forward due to fear of intimidation and retaliation. Police officers hold influential positions in society and sexual harassment must be assessed in the context of inherent power imbalances and dynamics."
