Culture of intimidation within police service: Former Edmonton officer

EDMONTON- A former Edmonton police officer is speaking out about what he calls a culture of intimidation within the police service.

“I’ve always had that passion for making a difference,” said Derek Huff.

A year and a half ago Huff gave up his career as a police officer, the culmination of a series of events which started in February 2010.

“That was the evening that my beat team and I went out to do an undercover operation and I had to witness the three officers savagely beat on the drug dealer.”

Huff alleges the incident happened in the area of 95th Street and 112th Avenue. He told his superiors what happened and says harassment and intimidation followed.

“The treatment that I got from other members; I was told that I wasn’t a good cop. I was told that all I was doing was dealing with a bunch of homeless people in a small area in Chinatown. ‘If you don’t do buy and busts, why are you in beats?’ So, as soon as I told my boss, it really seemed like they were informed that apparently I like to tell on people.”

The Edmonton Police Service said in a written statement that Huff’s complaint was investigated by the EPS Professional Standards Branch.

“At the conclusion of the investigation, Chief Boyd determined that the evidence known at the time of the complaint had no reasonable prospect of conviction at a disciplinary hearing and the matter was concluded,” the statement read.

“In early 2012, (two years after the initial investigation) Huff brought additional information forward to Deputy Chief Campbell, in relation to the 2010 allegation… As there was new information, Chief Knecht made a request to the Director of Law Enforcement for the Province, to have the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) conduct a separate and independent investigation of the matter. The new Chief also asked that the 2010 harassment investigation be reviewed by an external agency, to ensure that proper process was followed, and to provide greater transparency.”

“Every single day that I went to work, I was humiliated, harassed, ostracized,” Huff said, holding back tears.

Huff left the police service on April 23, 2012. He has been a witness to the ASIRT investigation. The matter is now under review by the agency’s executive director and the Crown. It’s not known when a decision will come forward..

The EPS says it is taking the matter seriously.

“All and any allegations of criminal or inappropriate behaviour against any member of the EPS are taken very seriously and every complaint is fully investigated. Any allegation, whether true or false, can impact on the public trust,” the written statement read.

Further to its statement, the EPS says the chief would like to see all complaints against police be investigated by an independent body.

Huff says he’s speaking out in hopes of encouraging others to do the same.

“I read the Code of Ethics and it made me cry because every one of those Code of Ethics is something that we stand by. And I got ran out of the police service because I did what I was expected to do.”

Huff has a grievance against the EPS for aggravated damages and lost wages.

With files from Vinesh Pratap, Global News.