A Vancouver police officer has been demoted in rank following a public hearing into allegations of sexualized misconduct.
Keiron McConnell saw his rank of sergeant reduced to first class constable.
The disciplinary hearing also slapped him with a “substantial” period of unpaid suspension, supervision at work, and mandatory counselling and training, according to the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner.
In addition to being a police officer, McConnell taught at several post-secondary institutions, including Royal Roads and Kwantlen Polytechnic universities.
During the hearing, McConnell admitted to allegations of discreditable conduct related to unsolicited sexualized messages sent to fellow officers and female students and to trying to initiate unwanted physical contact with a former student.
Hearing adjudicator Carol Baird Ellan concluded that while McConnell had “accepted responsibility” for sexual harassment involving five women, his admissions revealed a pattern of inappropriate behaviour.
Baird Ellan described the discipline meted out, which was the result of a joint proposal, as “falling just short of dismissal,” adding they would have a deterrent effect on other officers.
Advocates for women in policing, however, were not impressed.
Tammy Hammell, a retired Vancouver police officer with three decades on the force, said the discipline did not go far enough.
“He’s going to be suspended for a 20-day period that is going to be at the discretion of the VPD,” she said.
“He has the option of being reinstated after 12 months, should the department decide it’s OK for him to come back from a demotion from first class constable to sergeant again, and again in a position of power and control over people in his own department, civilians and police officers who are subordinate to him are going to be potentially at risk again.”
Helen Irvine, the lead plaintiff in a class action lawsuit launched by female police officers against multiple B.C. municipal police forces, agreed.
“It may all sound great on paper, but this is the same thing that has been happening all along, we’re just seeing it now in a public forum,” she said.
“He is going to get to go back to work with the same people who allowed this to happen in the first place, the place where he felt comfortable to display this kind of behaviour for years without fear of anything happening to him, without fear of losing his job.”
In addition to the discipline, Baird Ellan also issued a number of recommendations for the Vancouver Police Department and Vancouver Police Board aimed at addressing sexual harassment and protecting victims who come forward.