BY SHAAMINI YOGARETNAM
A corrupt police officer who was ordered to resign or be fired back in June 2015 has abandoned his appeal bid and resigned from the force.
Sgt. Rohan Beebakhee’s resignation from the Ottawa Police Service was effective Feb. 16. The resignation signals the end of a policing career that was marred by multiple oversight investigations and allegations against the officer that first began to publicly surface in a 2008 SIU investigation. His resignation also puts an end to a with-pay suspension that saw him collect a paycheque without working since 2012.
An Ottawa police sergeant who booked dates with sex-trade workers and repeatedly breached policy by accessing confidential police records for personal use has been given a week to resign or be fired.
Sgt. Rohan Beebakhee, a 21-year veteran, was found guilty under the Police Services Act last year of three counts of insubordination, two counts of corrupt practice and one count of deceit.
In a decision on sentencing delivered Thursday, hearing officer Terence Kelly, a retired York Region police deputy chief, said Beebakhee’s 37 queries in the Canadian Police Information Centre database (CPIC) and 400 searches in the Ottawa police records management system violated the privacy rights of 83 people.
“These flagrant breaches and lack of respect and trust bestowed upon Sgt. Beebakhee jeopardize his usefulness as a police officer,” Kelly said.
The repeated queries in police databases showed that Beebakhee didn’t have a momentary lapse in judgment, but deliberately planned the unauthorized searches, Kelly said. This elevated the seriousness of the conduct to the high end of the spectrum, he added.
Kelly said in his decision said that the officer’s actions have not only damaged the reputation of the police force but also his own. Beebakhee’s credibility on the stand during criminal trials will be at issue each time he testifies, since it’s the duty of a Crown prosecutor to disclose an officer’s disciplinary history, Kelly said.
Kelly was told during the hearing that Beebakhee phoned Det. Shane Henderson, the lead investigator in Ottawa’s first successfully prosecuted human trafficking case, at his home to ask for information about the investigation. Beebakhee accessed the file when Henderson wouldn’t respond to his questions.
Beebakhee also accessed records several times involving his then-girlfriend, known during the hearing as K.S.
During their relationship, Beebakhee searched K.S. on the Ottawa police records management system several times. When questioned about making the queries, Beebakhee said he wasn’t aware of the Ottawa police policies related to searches for personal use and that he didn’t know K.S. had returned to the sex trade.
Between May 2011 and May 2012, Beebakhee requested phone subscriber information 17 times on numbers involving escorts who had bad dates. Those checks were never related to any police investigation, Kelly said.
Ottawa police Chief Charles Bordeleau told the Citizen on Thursday that when the case was first presented, he took the position that dismissal was the appropriate penalty.
“We accept the decision of the hearing officer,” Bordeleau said. “The conduct exhibited is one that is not acceptable for a police officer in our community.”
Beebakhee’s defence lawyer Bill Carroll said he plans to appeal the decision to the Ontario Civilian Police Commission within 30 days.
Carroll said he didn’t think the proper principles of sentencing were applied in this case and that his client’s “exemplary service” should have been given more weight in the decision.
Carroll had argued that a demotion for a period of time was a more appropriate penalty and that Beebakhee could reform and rehabilitate. Kelly rejected that argument in his decision.
“There has been no acknowledgment of responsibility. I have not been informed of any apology, nor has there been any remorse,” Kelly said. “For many people, showing remorse is seen as one of the first steps towards rehabilitation.”
Beebakhee, who thanked Kelly, wouldn’t speak to reporters after the hearing, but Carroll said his client was upset and surprised at the decision.
“Not only is he potentially losing his position, the Ottawa police have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in this man’s training and to throw that away I don’t think benefits anybody,” Carroll said.
Ottawa Police Association president Matt Skof, who was also at Thursday’s hearing, said it’s always difficult when the force loses an experienced and hard-working officer.
Skof said he believes there are serious issues with the disciplinary process. For one, Bordeleau appoints the hearing officer.
“It’s very nepotistic. It’s chosen and hand-picked by the chief, it’s prejudicial, and it’s something we’ve been lobbying for changes now for the last three years,” Skof said.
Skof said the Ottawa Police Association has joined forces with other police unions to lobby for a more neutral disciplinary process.
For Carroll, the ultimate in fairness and impartiality would be for a judge to oversee the disciplinary hearings.
“The system is stacked against the officer and the Court of Appeal has acknowledged that,” Carroll said.
Beebakhee has been suspended with pay since the summer of 2012. He will remain suspended with pay even after the seven-day period he was given to resign as long as the appeal to the Ontario Civilian Police Commission has been filed and while the commission hears the appeal.
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