RCMP Watch

Chad Skelton (Vancouver Sun) - An RCMP disciplinary board has docked a B.C. officer 10 days pay after it found him guilty of “abuse of authority” for using his position as a police officer to help his girlfriend leave the scene of an accident.

The panel also found Const. Richard Jaques neglected his duties on four separate occasions, by either not following orders or failing to properly investigate crimes ranging from a break-and-enter to an attempted abduction.

Jaques appeared before the disciplinary board, made up of three senior Mounties, in September.
A written copy of the board’s decision was released in response to a request from The Vancouver Sun.

According to the board’s decision, Jaques’s common-law spouse — identified only as S.S. — collided with a parked car in Duncan on Aug. 5, 2005.

She then went to the post office across the street.

When she returned, the driver of the parked car asked her to back up so he could examine it for damages.

In response, according to the decision, “S.S. became abusive towards him.”

It was at this point Jaques, who was off duty at the time, got involved.

“[He] walked over to the scene and informed [the other driver] that he was a police officer but refused to show any identification or disclose his name or badge number when asked to do so,” the decision states.

“When [the other driver] requested identification and other relevant information from S.S., Const. Jaques became verbally aggressive towards [him] and threatened him that he would be charged with public mischief or nuisance if he did not stop ‘harassing’ S.S.”

According to the decision, Jaques “then instructed S.S. not to provide any information or identification to [the other driver] and to drive away” — which she did.

The disciplinary panel found Jaques’ behaviour was a serious breach of conduct.

“The public would be upset, and rightfully so, that a member would knowingly ignore the values of the force by engaging in behaviour amounting to no less than an abuse of authority,” it wrote.

But that wasn’t Jaques’ only violation.

The decision also notes four separate cases of neglect of duty between January and February 2005 while Jaques was on duty in Port Hardy, including:

n While investigating an apparent residential break-and-enter, Jaques received a tip a neighbour’s son may have committed the crime. Jaques eliminated him as a suspect without ever attempting to talk to him.

n Two teenaged hitchhikers called the RCMP and told them a man in a truck had tried to grab one of them and force them into his vehicle. Jaques was assigned to investigate but failed to take statements from the two teenagers or even open a paper file on the case. “Const. Jaques concluded his involvement in the file after patrolling the area,” the decision states.

n Jaques was sent to investigate a report of two young people breaking into a vehicle. A supervisor later noted Jaques’ investigation reports included no details about the vehicle and no statements from witnesses.

n Following a spousal assault call, Jaques was asked by another officer to drive the wife’s husband to a relative’s home to spend the night. A few minutes later, Jaques told the officer by radio he was instead dropping the man off at Thunderbird Mall, a short walk from the home.

The other officer disagreed and told Jaques not to, but Jaques still left the man there. The decision states the man “was found in a ditch a few hours later and arrested by another member for drunkenness in public.”

In deciding to dock Jaques 10 days’ pay, the board found that while the allegations against him were serious, he had no prior disciplinary problems and some “extenuating medical circumstances.”

The decision doesn’t detail what those circumstances are, but notes Jaques provided an “independent psychiatric evaluation” to the board.

Under the RCMP Act, short of firing or demoting an officer, the maximum penalty a disciplinary panel can give an officer is a forfeiture of 10 days’ pay.

A receptionist at the Port Hardy RCMP said Jaques is no longer working there and is now in Burnaby.

Jaques could not immediately be reached for comment.