Damian Inwood and Lindsay Kines (Ottawa Citizen) – The security force for the Vancouver Olympics is facing controversy after it emerged Friday that some of its police and military members have been sent home and accused of “unbecoming” conduct — including an allegation of shoplifting.
The Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit issued a statement Friday night saying an officer from Ottawa faces a count of theft under $5,000 from a retail store in the Vancouver suburb of Burnaby.
That officer is Staff Sgt. Suzanne Denise Marie Martel, a 19-year RCMP veteran, who has been accused of shoplifting while off duty.
Martel has been relieved of her duties with the security unit, and sent back to her home unit in Ottawa, where her duty status will be reviewed. Crown counsel approved the charge against Martel on Wednesday. She is to appear in court in April.
News of the allegations against Martel followed a statement earlier in the day that Vancouver police are investigating two other incidents involving two security team members.
RCMP Staff Sgt. Mike Cote said that in total nearly a dozen ISU members have been sent home for various code of conduct and ethical violations, including four Canadian Forces members and seven police officers.
“The Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit and all ISU member agencies have set a zero tolerance standard for any behaviour that could be considered in direct conflict with each organization’s core values and code of ethics or Canada’s laws,” the security unit said in its news release.
Cote said offences could range from failing to show up for work on time to being drunk and disorderly.
Olympic RCMP officer charged
CBC News
February 19, 2009
An RCMP officer assigned to security duties for the Winter Olympics has been charged with theft under $5,000 in connection with an alleged shoplifting incident in Burnaby, B.C.
Charged was Staff Sgt. Suzanne Martel, a 19-year RCMP veteran stationed in Ottawa who had been temporarily seconded to the Integrated Security Unit, the combined force performing security duties for the Games.
The charges against Martel were confirmed late Friday by Robin Baird, a Crown counsel with B.C.’s Justice Branch.
The theft allegedly occurred Feb. 11 at a Winners clothing store in Burnaby.
The officer was among 11 members of the Integrated Security Unit (ISU) in Vancouver who have been relieved of their duties. Most of them have been sent home for unspecified disciplinary infractions, including two who remain under investigation by the Vancouver Police Department.
Police have not released details about most of the investigations or the identity of the officers involved, but last week it was revealed six members of the ISU were removed from the Olympic unit, including two RCMP members and four Canadian Forces personnel.
On Friday, ISU spokesman Sgt. Mike Cote confirmed that five more police officers have since run into trouble and been sent home, bringing the total to 11, including the two still under investigation.
But Cote bristled at the suggestion of discreditable behaviour by officers who are billeted aboard cruise ships docked in Vancouver.
“I’d like to make it clear right here, right now, there’s been allegations of sex-trade workers being brought on the ship and so on. I can emphatically state today that is absolutely not true. None of those incidences ever took place,” he said.
He said it has been “disturbing” to have the unit painted with such a brush.
The ISU is made up of about 3,000 police officers from Metro Vancouver and about 6,000 police officers and military personnel from out of town who are lodged on the ships for the duration of the 2010 Winter Games. The cost of the force is about $1 billion.
The Games wrap up in Vancouver and Whistler on Feb. 28.