Suspended police officers blame unfair disciplinary process for costing taxpayers millions

Const. Fournier is keeping a close eye on Delphine, a Jersey cow with a swollen, pregnant belly."It's therapeutic for me," said Fournier, who was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder in 2018.But Fournier is a seasoned Ottawa police officer with two decades of law enforcement experience.

Fournier's is one of more than 450 officer suspensions across 44 police departments in Ontario over the past decade that have cost taxpayers more than $134 million. New legislation that came into effect April 1 now gives police chiefs the power to suspend problematic officers without pay, but only under strict terms.

At the time of his suspension, he had to hand in his ID card, badge and gun. Fournier was being paid to stay home — an experience that for him was anything but a sweet deal. Despite the fact these 57 disciplinary cases didn't involve the criminal court system, the median length of suspensions was 511 days — about a year and four months.

Jeff McGuire, executive director of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, denied chiefs are acting in a "vindictive" manner. "Your co-workers are actively trying to find you guilty," said one officer who CBC has agreed not to name because he signed a non-disclosure agreement with his southwestern Ontario police service.

"It's not a paid vacation. It's stressful, and there are massive legal bills," said the officer, who was suspended for three years before criminal charges against him were dropped."If you're suspended with pay for a long time, regardless of what the ultimate disposition is, it causes severe damage to the officer's mental health as well as their professional reputation," he said.

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