City’s defence of police officer’s actions inexcusable

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This article was published 30/07/2022 (1343 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The City of Brandon has chosen to protect members of the Brandon Police Service who were involved in a case where a woman’s private photos were shared with the BPS executive during a hiring competition, a situation that ultimately contributed to her disqualification from that competition.

City hall is doing so, even after the city was found liable in the case during a civil trial that concluded earlier this year.

While we understand the desire for city hall to protect its police force from undo scrutiny and liability, the position of this administration denotes a failure to take responsibility for the actions of its employees, and runs contrary to the statutes of good governance and accountability.

Last March, Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Sandra Zinchuk sided with Brittany Roque — the woman whose images were shared without her consent — in what was called a precedent-setting case, to which the city was listed as a third party.

Zinchuk’s decision capped off a years-long saga that involved many moving parts. But in quick summary, Roque shared nude photos of herself with Ryan Friesen, a Brandon police officer, with whom she had a three-month affair in 2015. She shared them with Friesen under the pretense that they would be kept private and destroyed at the end of the relationship.

However, Friesen’s then-partner Terry Lynn Peters found the images in his email, and she brought them to the attention of Brandon police — specifically BPS deputy Chief Randy Lewis — while Roque was involved in a hiring competition in 2016. Peters said she shared them with BPS because she believed it was for the “public good.” Although Roque eventually disclosed her past relationship with Friesen to the hiring committee, she was asked to withdraw as a candidate for the job.

Roque declined to withdraw from the competition and subsequently filed complaints with the IIU and the RCMP. Roque then sued Peters in civil court for sharing Roque’s intimate images without her consent. On March 2, Zinchuk found both the City of Brandon and Peters jointly and severally liable for damages in the case.

Earlier this week the city announced that it will not appeal Zinchuk’s decision, according to a joint statement signed by city treasurer and acting city manager Dean Hammond and Brandon Police Service Chief Wayne Balcaen.

Yet, in spite of this, the city came to Lewis’ defence — even though it was his and the service’s actions that led to the city being implicated in the court case in the first place, leaving taxpayers on the hook for thousands of dollars in damages.

“While the City and BPS respect the court’s decision, we remain satisfied that Deputy Chief Randy Lewis acted in good faith and in belief as to best interests of BPS and the residents of Brandon. Deputy Chief Lewis is a highly respected, ethical, and virtuous leader of BPS and a valued member of the community,” the statement said.

In our opinion, the situation reeks of sexism. Brandon Police Service Staff Sgt. Marc Alain, who was responsible for organizing the hiring competition, claimed it was not Roque’s intimate images that led to her disqualification, but rather what those intimate images represented.

“It’s not so much about the sexual history, it’s about who they’ve been with,” Alain told the court during the third day of the trial in February 2021. “If you’re involved with a married person, it can be a problem and if it leads to things like blackmail.”

While a police candidate having an affair isn’t grounds for being disqualified, Alain told the court it is something police would investigate further and could speak to someone’s morality.

But what does this case reflect of Friesen — also a police officer — and his “morality?” Shouldn’t he be held to the same moral standard as Roque? After all, he was the one allegedly receiving intimate images of someone outside of his relationship with Peters. Ultimately, there is a double standard at play here.

After Zinchuk’s decision was released, Brandon University sociology Prof. Chris Schneider told the Sun he believed Roque’s personal, private images were none of the police service’s business.

“The distribution of images in this way and in most ways is intended to shame people. It’s gross and reminiscent of slut-shaming. The police should know better,” he said.

How can we expect more women to join male-dominated professions when they are held to a higher standard than their male counterparts? How do we make a work environment more inclusive to women if this is how they are treated when their very own privacy is invaded and then used against them?

While Zinchuk said in her decision that she agrees it is in the public’s interest for BPS to do a thorough background check on applicants, there is “no rational explanation for why any of the images needed to be provided to BPS in order to fully consider and assess her application.”

A person has the right to control who sees intimate and private images of their body, Zinchuk wrote, and Lewis viewed the image(s) without Roque’s consent.

“I find that this substantially, and unreasonably violated her privacy,” Zinchuk wrote, adding Lewis receiving and using the images was “not in the public interest,” which is a contradiction to the city’s statement this week.

It’s clear, even after the court released its decision, that the city and Brandon Police Service are more interested in protecting their staff than ensuring fair practices are being upheld. There were many missteps throughout this case, but perhaps the most significant is how the city let down so many people — most importantly the women of Brandon — in its failure to hold its own staff accountable and to equal standards.