MORE WATERLOO REGIONAL POLICE IN TROUBLE WITH THE LAW

This is getting ridiculous. Today's Waterloo Region Record has two more cases of alleged misconduct involving Regional Police Officers. The one story is titled "No record for police officer who leaked report in drug case" and the other is titled "Officer fights to have conduct charges dropped.". Both cases indicate either horrible judgement, incompetence or stupidity. That's the best case scenario. The worst case for both officers would be much more insidious and would involve some kind of criminal intent involved.

Brian Caldwell informs us that the first case involving Const. Craig Markham is in regards to him providing confidential information to a friend who was charged with an offence. Judge Norman Douglas gave Const. Markham a conditional discharge on the officer's guilty plea to a breach of trust charge. Const. Markham still faces Police Service act charges.

In the second case Const. Amy Hodgson was charged under the Police Act with discreditable conduct and neglect of duty. Apparently her testimony in court did not match her notes taken at the time of the arrest of the accused. There were concerns that the officer's poor performance on the stand might be related to the maternity leave shwe was on at the time of the trial. Eventually the prosecuter chose to go ahead with her complaint to the police although now there is an issue before this Tribunal dealing with time constraints upon the laying of Police Act charges. All in all this second case appears to me to be far more problematic than the first. Could the officer's poor ability at trial have been related to stress, nerves, sleeplessness etc.? Does the apparent screwup of the laying of Police Act charges make those same charges for neglect of duty against the officer seem inherently ridiculous?

Is there any issue of proper supervision involved in either of these cases? Is there a lack of training or even of proper peer assistance to officers involved? Are all these charges and alleged misconduct over the last couple of years normal for police forces the size of ours? How can anyone maintain their confidence in the professionalism of our police with ongoing, repeat incidences?