Rhino’s Ramblings - Trio Of Alleged Incidents Dog Force

By Robert Thomas Opinion/Commentary

Despite a dismissal the problems continue for the Moose Jaw Police Service (MJPS) as new allegations of impropriety by members of the force have surfaced.

Allegations, not proven in court, which appear to transcend outside the MJPS sadly impacting the private lives of members of the general public.

But first off before I get into the nitty gritty of the new allegations personally I don’t believe the MJPS is totally corrupt.

With that said in my opinion there seems to be a lot of rot that needs to be tossed out the door.

It’s as simple as that.

The problem is in my opinion finding the intestinal fortitude within the MJPS to conduct the investigation and pull the trigger.

The Nike motto “Just Do It” isn’t there and the Saskatchewan Police Act plus a legal fund makes it difficult to do.

I will also say I was unable to reach the MJPS personnel allegedly involved in the alleged incidents so I won’t be naming them.

I sent emails to the MJPS and Councillor Crystal Froese - chair of the Moose Jaw Board of Police Commissioners and de facto employers of the MJPS - requesting comment on the incidents and did receive a response.

I will admit the questions were fairly pointed so the Moose Jaw Board of Police Commissioners are aware of what is in this column.

You can read the statement in its entirety below.

Personally I give the MJPS high marks for alerting and dealing with my questions at the level of the Moose Jaw Board of Police Commissioners. The people in charge now know.

I did not receive the response I had hoped for but I did receive a response at the highest levels - so once again kudos for that.

I did however receive a personal “response” on Tuesday morning when I was visited by a pair of MJPS officers.

They were asking if I wanted to launch a formal investigation into the alleged harassment I allegedly endured at the hands of the force.

Personally I’m not interested in a months long investigation as I’m in the process of shutting MJ Independent down permanently.

Plus I have a promise to keep later this winter/spring a few time zones away I need to focus my attention on.

Now that the legal stuff is done I’ll be honest and told them what happened.

With that said it’s time to reveal more details of three concurrently on-going internal investigations at the MJPS.

Case One - Checking Out The Kid’s Love Interests

I can confirm the first case has been referred to the Saskatchewan Public Complaints Commission and deals with a special constable who is a Dispatch/Communications Officer.

As stated I won’t be releasing the name of the MJPS personnel involved in the alleged incident simply because I haven’t been able to contact them. In all fairness before their name goes up it’s good policy to give them a chance to respond.

I won’t be releasing the name(s) of the complainant simply because they are the victim(s) here and have requested to remain anonymous but at the same time want the story told.

I will admit what I’m hearing here is in part second hand information.

According to the complainant the special constable was worried about who their child was dating.

So someone ran a computer check on not just the person their child was dating but also on at least one of their child’s love interest family member as well.

To make a story short someone allegedly misused MJPS computer database resources to confirm the dad had a criminal record KO (Known Offender) status.

From there - and here is where it gets murky - the dispatchcommunications officer either ran a more detailed run on the opposite dad and/or had an officer to run it or asked an officer about what the record was for.

The end result was the dispatch/communications parent learnt one of their child’s love interest’s parent had a criminal record dating back a decade and older for common assault.

The complainant in this case found out about the computer search after the dispatcher’s child told her love interest about it.

The child told their parent who in turn filed a formal complaint into the incident about the dispatchcommunications officer’s alleged actions.

Does any of this sound familiar?

Well we had two dispatchers cut loose back in 2020 for privacy breaches back in 2018 for similar actions.

Check out the story from 2020 on the 2018 incident by clicking here.

In relation to the 2018 casesthe MJPS fired the people involved and had agreed to train employees properly about data and privacy into the future.

There are two reasons I brought this up.

One being the previous breaches and subsequent terminations the second being an alleged discussion between the now broken up young star crossed lovers.

In the conversation I was told the dispatcher’s child confronted their now former love interest complaining by reporting their family would suffer serious “financial harm.”

Nothing was said about the individual whose dad had a minor criminal record and now was potentially facing potential financial and other harm because of the illicit search.

As I was told by the family member “how fair is it that we suffer from this and the person breaking the law doesn’t simply because of where they work?”

It’s a good point that why should a child suffer for the actions of a parent.

Case Two - Lengthy Paid Suspension

From confidential sources - who have for five years supplied MJ Independent with accurate information about the internal workings of the MJPS - we learnt about a senior officer who has been suspended with pay (relief of duties) for over a year.

The relief of duties was taken when it was alleged the senior officer learnt about an alleged serious misconduct by a junior member and failed to do anything about it.

Each month this case drags on is costing local property taxpayers thousands of dollars weekly in pay and other benefits being paid out.

We asked the MJPS and police commission chair Crystal Froese to comment but received no response.

Now I can tell you under present legislation there is an innocent until proven guilty aspect to police committing wrongdoing when it comes to being paid until suspended.

It’s something Ontario’s Doug Ford government is addressing through legislative changes at the present time.

Case Three - Superintendent Firing

The final case I am aware of the MJPS is dealing with at the present time is the firing of Superintendent Taylor Mickleborough.

Now I was unable to confirm Superintendent Mickleborough was terminated.

I asked the question the question as part of my two part submission of questions to the MJPS but did not receive a response.

That is not saying Superintendent Mickleborough’s employment is not terminated. Far from it.

I’m going to run off of the comments made to at least three other media outlets that Superintendent Mickleborough was terminated.

I do know Superintendent Mickleborough has filed a grievance to get his job back.

With that said I did receive information from confidential sources which gave me more details about the allegations leading up to Superintendent Mickleborough’s dismissal.

What those sources told me or allege is that parts from recovered stolen property (a bicycle) was swapped out by a senior officer and Superintendent Mickleborough allegedly covered for him.

None of this has been proven before a court of law and I cannot tell you if there are going to be criminal charges laid or not.

Once again I was unable to contact the other officer allegedly involved in this case so I will not be releasing any names.

For those who are watching all of this if you remember one of the things which got former Constable Alan Murdock fired was removing items from the property room.

Plus remember the rules. to some extent, allowed the behaviour to allegedly go on for decades.

It all leaves me wondering if the problems in the MJPS are now over or is this just the tip of the ice berg?

What in the end is the MJPS going to do allay the fears and concerns out there in a growing number of corners in the community?

I have heard candidates for Council express concerns on the eve of the municipal election about the alleged goings on at the MJPS.

For myself personally there needs to be something done - a formal independent public inquiry into the MJPS - to toss out not just the bad apples but also press the reset button.

The good apples in the MJPS deserve it. The good people of Moose Jaw deserve it as well.