A Manitoba judge has ruled a Winnipeg police officer abused his authority when he repeatedly tried to obtain surveillance video from the Green Brier Inn.
The video was wanted in connection with an alleged sexual assault in 2015.
In a decision released Monday, Judge Sid Lerner found then-Const. Richard Comte used abusive language and threatened both arrest and harm to the Main Street bar in his attempts to obtain possible evidence without a production order.
In the decision under the Law Enforcement Review Act the officer, who had since been promoted to Patrol Sargent, was demoted.
Comte was also docked five days pay for his conduct.
Surveillance video
It began in 2015 when Comte headed to the Green Brier Inn several times to ask for surveillance video for the alleged sexual assault that happened in the bar.
The hotel normally would comply even without a warrant, however, at this time the owner was out of the country, according to testimony.
The bar manager testified on one attempt to get the surveillance footage, Comte told her that if they didn’t get it that night, they would come back on the bar’s busiest night to get it.
“I find that this was clearly a threat of deliberate business disruption,” wrote Learner.
On Oct. 21, 2015, Comte came back alone and privately spoke to the bar manager, and Comte told her they could arrest her boss for not providing the footage. Frightened, she ultimately relented and allowed Comte into the server room and to watch the footage.
“I was pretty scared,” testified the manager.
“He’s my boss, I did not want my boss to be arrested … He said again and again he’s on an official order … so I had no choice, I had to let him in.”
From there, Comte asked for her boss’s cell phone number and called him, testified the hotel manager, and she said she heard Comte make the same threat to come back on the bar’s busiest night to collect the evidence.
Second police officer
A second police officer testified they had a conversation with Comte, saying Comte threatened to not show up to the bar if there was trouble.
“You know damn well what happens to establishments who are not police friendly,” said Comte.
While a police officer can’t decide on whether to show up to an establishment or not, Learner wrote that hotel staff may not know this and would be rightly concerned.
Lerner said Comte tried to continue to harm the hotel business, telling junior police officers about the incident and complaining it was the only time he had to get a production order to obtain video evidence.
Comte also suggested conducting a joint investigation of the Green Brier Inn with a liquor inspector.
Lerner said despite this, Comte had a clean police record and letters of reference in his favour.
Comte has 30 days to appeal.
The Winnipeg Police Service said it’s aware of the judge’s decision, but won’t be commenting until the process is finalized.
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