Adam: So much for rebuilding confidence in the Ottawa police

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If you are wondering why public confidence in Ottawa police is sinking, look no further than the case of Const. Yourik Brisebois.

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The 42-year-old Brisebois is the officer who was found guilty of two criminal charges, including uttering death threats to a woman, but whom the OPS saw fit to welcome back into the fold.

At a time when domestic violence against women has reached epidemic proportions, it beggars belief that a police officer who threatens the life of a woman can basically walk free and come back to his job. And some wonder why public trust continues to be a challenge.

Brisebois, an investigator with the child exploitation unit, was charged in 2020 with “knowingly uttering a threat to cause death” to the woman, and possessing a weapon — a kitchen knife — for the purpose of committing a crime. The case stemmed from what police called a “domestic incident,” which has not been explained. The woman cannot be identified, and it remains unclear what her relationship is to Brisebois.

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The injustice began at the trial. A judge found Brisebois guilty of the charges in March, but at sentencing in May, he was granted a conditional discharge, which meant he will have no criminal record if he abides by conditions imposed by the court. He must serve three years’ probation and submit his DNA. If you or I threatened to kill someone, it’s doubtful we would get off so lightly. But if you are a police officer, it’s a different story. So, now, Brisebois is back on the job, wearing a badge and a gun.

But the outrage doesn’t end there. Usually, a police officer facing criminal charges is suspended pending the outcome of the case: guilty or not guilty. But, apparently, not Brisebois. He was suspended in August, 2020, after charges were laid, but according to OPS spokesperson Const. Cailey Walker, the suspension was lifted in February last year — a full year before he was found guilty in March of 2023. He was then granted conditional discharge in early May. “Const. Brisebois’ suspension commenced on August 5, 2020 and concluded Feb. 3, 2022,” Const. Walker told the Citizen in an email. “Upon his return, he was assigned to administrative duties.” How could the suspension of an officer facing criminal charges, including uttering a death threat, be lifted so he could return to duty before a court had rendered judgement?

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Who ordered the reinstatement, and on what grounds? What are the internal rules governing such behaviour? Is such a decision normal practice at the Ottawa police? At the time of writing, neither the Ottawa police nor the Crown, Peter Napier, had responded to a request for comment. Of course, we should not forget the woman, the forgotten victim. Who speaks for her? Who stands for her? Obviously, not the courts, and most certainly not the Ottawa police. She just doesn’t count, and they call this justice.

What happened in Brisebois’s case is outrageous, and the secrecy surrounding it is even harder to accept. Here you have a police officer suspended with pay — $113,600 — in the first full year of his suspension. And when he is found guilty and gets a conditional discharge, he walks into his job with a pay raise of nearly 12 per cent, to $127,044.

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But then, why should things be any different? He is a police officer, after all. For a full year, this officer was on the job despite the criminal charges against him, and Ottawa police kept it a secret. They didn’t want you to know. But for the work of a Citizen reporter, we might never have known. If this is how the police hope to earn public trust, good luck to them.

Both police Chief Eric Stubbs and the new police services board have been talking about restoring public confidence. This is their chance. Stubbs needs to explain what happened in this case, and why Const. Brisebois is still an Ottawa police officer.

Mohammed Adam is an Ottawa journalist and commentator.