It’s a case of “he said, she said” but in the end, B.C.’s police watchdog found a veteran Vancouver Police Department (VPD) inspector did “smack” or “slap” a colleague’s buttocks, resulting in discreditable conduct under the Police Act.
The complainant, a VPD special constable, said it felt more like a smack on her right buttock, but Insp. John de Haas said it was a”tap” on her right hip.
The incident took place April 4, 2017 at an official VPD event when de Haas scolded the complainant for having her hands in her pocket.
Seconds after the incident, de Haas acknowledged his action.
“The member said, ‘Oops, I probably shouldn’t have done that.’ The complainant said, ‘No, probably not,’ and the member said, ‘Sorry.’ The complainant said, ‘I’m just going to ignore you now,'” reads the 20-page decision.
After the event, speaking to other colleagues, de Haas said, “We almost had a sexual harassment issue.”
In a written decision from the Office of the Police Complaint commissioner, adjudicator Carol Baird Ellan found the inspector’s description of the incident to be disingenuous and unnatural.
“I find it to be inconsistent with his immediate apology and subsequent remark…The member clearly realized that he had acted inappropriately…The member’s version of events and subsequent characterizations of the incident are simply not credible,” Ellan said in the decision.
A disciplinary hearing in the case is set to be held but no date has been announced.