Over four years ago, the chief of police in Lethbridge went for lunch with a volunteer police chaplain. However, as it was during the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic, eyebrows were raised.
Shahin Mehdizadeh joined the Lethbridge Police Service as chief in 2020, but in March of the following year, it is alleged he broke Alberta’s public health order by eating at a public location with a non-household member.
The allegations came from the former deputy chief of police, and briefly interim chief of police, Scott Woods.
In January 2022, he accused Mehdizadeh of 16 total counts and the Edmonton Police Service was directed to investigate.
The EPS investigation determined 10 allegations were either time-barred under the Police Act or the complainant, Woods, did not have standing to make a complaint.
The Lethbridge Police Commission dismissed the other six allegations as “frivolous and vexatious and lacking an evidentiary basis.”
However, in 2023, Woods appealed to the Law Enforcement Review Board and, in 2024, the board upheld that 10 were time-barred or without standing and it agreed three of the remaining six counts should have been dismissed.
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However, it directed the Lethbridge Police Commission to conduct a hearing on the remaining three allegations.
That hearing was held on Thursday at Lethbridge City Hall. Immediately, one of the three counts was dismissed. So, Mehdizadeh’s hearing was about his alleged breaching of COVID-19 protocols and then allegedly denying any wrongdoing after the fact.
Both Woods and Mehdizadeh were called as witnesses and both men testified to the commission.
The relationship between Woods and Mehdizadeh was discussed, with the former saying he, “felt very unsupported under (Mehdizadeh’s) command.”
Meanwhile, Mehdizadeh agreed they had a “strained” work relationship.
During the hearing, Mehdizadeh did not deny having lunch with the volunteer LPS chaplain, but he says, “it wasn’t done for any malicious intent.”
Dan Scott, the counsel for Mehdizadeh, says it was an innocent meal during a time when health orders were ever-changing.
“There was no intention to violate the health order,” said Scott.
Mehdizadeh says, at the time, he believed it to be a reasonable thing to do as the chaplain was part of his cohort at work and they regularly had close contact in the office.
Furthermore, Mehdizadeh says he and the chaplain were physically distanced during the brief meal, which took place at a local market’s dining area, not in a restaurant, pub or cafe.
Mehdizadeh also says when he learned it was against COVID-19 protocol, he apologized and promised it wouldn’t happen again.
Woods confirmed during the hearing that the apology happened shortly after he confronted the chief of police about the situation, however, he says Mehdizadeh initially denied the allegations before being corrected by another LPS member.
It was agreed by all parties that Mehdizadeh had failed to follow the public health order, but the chief’s counsel requested the remaining two counts be dismissed.
This was primarily due to the approach Mehdizadeh took when dealing with others who breached protocols at the time. His counsel says he favoured education over enforcement and, since he already accepted responsibility and apologized, the counts should be waived.
The Lethbridge Police Commission will reconvene on June 16 at 9:30 a.m.
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