Police officers Essay

It is the duty of police agents to keep the peace and uphold the law. However, some rogue officers commit severe crimes against the Police Services Act Code of Offenses, such as theft, assault, and insubordination. This research aims to offer justifications for why a police officer who commits serious offenses should be suspended from duty without pay.

Suspension without pay gives the people assurance that police will be properly punished for any crimes they commit. Pay suspension serves as a direct punishment for the police officer, adding to the deterrent effect and encouraging better performance and improved order within the police force. Suspending officers also prevents officers from taking advantage and earning salary and benefits for no work done while waiting for the conclusion of their case. An example is Hamilton Police inspector David Doel who continued to receive full salary and benefits while on suspension for misuse of Canada’s criminal database, spying on his lover using police equipment, and storing photography on work computer (The Star, 2014). He resigned four years later before his case reached the tribunal and after costing the public $550,000 hence suspension without pay would save taxpayers a lot of money (CBS, 2014 and Mandel, 2015). In Ontario, 29 provisional officers are suspended with pay costing the taxpayers approximately $4.5 million a year hence the need for changes to the law to allow suspension without pay (Crawley, 2016).

Police officers who deserve to be sacked and could be on criminal charges will no longer access public funds ensuring equality between civilians and police regarding suspension without pay. Suspension without pay also follows similar laws in other regions and provinces that have proven to reduce levels of police indiscipline for fear of losing income and benefits increasing hardships for oneself and family (June, 2013). Suspension without pay will deter police participation in criminal activities and allow the law to cater for increased police officers committing serious offenses (Loriggio, 2017). When police officers are suspended without pay, they will seek to make their cases heard and determined earlier allowing for faster determination of cases allowing acquitted officers to resume duty and be cleared of charges (Lewis, 2015).

References

CBS. (April 21, 2014). Should cops charged with offences, misconduct, be suspended without pay? Accessed on April 4, 2017 from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/should- cops-charged-with-offences-misconduct-be-suspended-without-pay-1.2616640

Crawley, M. (January 28, 2016). At least 50 police officers currently suspended with pay on Ontario. CBC News. Accessed on April 4, 2017 from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-ontario-police-suspended-with-pay- 1.3424010

June, D. L. (2013). What they Didn’t Teach at the Academy: Topics, Stories, and Reality Beyond the Classroom. CRC Press.

Lewis, C. (August 9, 2015). Let police chiefs suspend officers without pay. The Star. Accessed on April 4, 2017 from https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2015/08/09/let- police-chiefs-suspend-officers-without-pay.html

Loriggio, P. (February 6, 2017). Police boards want chiefs to be able to suspend officers without pay. Accessed on April 4, 2017 from http://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/police-boards-want- chiefs-to-be-able-to-suspend-officers-without-pay-1.3273047

Mandel, M. (August 20, 2015). Time to stop paying police officers on suspension. Toronto Sun. Accessed on April 4, 2017 from http://www.torontosun.com/2015/08/20/time-to-stop- paying-police-officers-on-suspension

The Star. (June 30, 2014). Rogue police officers should be suspended without pay: Editorial. Retrieved on April 4, 2014 from https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2014/06/30/rogue_police_officers_should_be _suspended_without_pay_editorial.html