Royal Canadian Mounted Police Assistant Commisioner Bud Mercer in Vancouver, British Columbia February 20, 2009.Andy Clark/ Reuters
Fifteen members of the RCMP Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit were sent home during the Games for misconduct that included skipping out of work to catch a hockey game and breaching a confidentiality agreement by taking pictures of Team Canada jerseys.
Another officer was sent home for coming to work without bullets. The majority of the incidents, however, involved "inappropriate intoxication," allegations of unwanted sexual advances, and altercations between police officers and staff on the cruise ship that housed members of the security unit. One officer, RCMP Staff Sergeant Suzanne Denise Marie Martel of Ottawa, was criminally charged with shoplifting at a Burnaby store.
The incidents were disclosed by the BC RCMP at a news conference in Vancouver on Monday after receiving at least four Freedom of Information requests from the media.
The ISU has handed over all the files to the officers' home forces, which will decide on further disciplinary action, said BC RCMP Inspector Tim Shields in an interview on Monday.
Another 33 incidents of alleged misconduct were also investigated, but none of the officers involved were sent home.
The ISU was made up of 6,200 police officers from across Canada who provided security services for 90 days before, during and after the Winter Olympics. The officers involved in allegations of misconduct represented the RCMP, Abbotsford Police Department, Peel Regional Police and Ontario Provincial Police.
Several of the incidents involved police officers leaving unsecured guns lying around, in places including a washroom, their bedrooms and Vancouver airport. A few other complaints involved officers using foul or disrespectful language.
One officer was accused of trespassing into a rail yard and throwing rocks at parked train cars, while another was found sleeping on the job. It was also alleged that an RCMP officer grabbed an Estonian dignitary and ripped his suit. The police also disclosed that one officer called 911 from his cruise ship accommodation while he was drunk.
One of the more bizarre allegations was that a person wearing a balaclava at a Whistler gas station refused to take it off and showed police credentials before leaving. He could not be identified and the file was closed. There were three other instances where the police officers involved in the complaints could not be identified.
"These [incidents]are unusual because we had more than a zero tolerance approach to any allegations," Insp. Shields said. "We were watchful of any misbehaviour on or off duty, including what could be perceived as a minor incident in a bar after hours."
The most surprising action, Insp. Shields said, was taking the photo of the hockey jerseys. The officer snapped the picture almost immediately after signing the agreement not to do so and was turned in by a co-worker, he said.
But the ISU is very happy overall with the performance of the police officers who worked the Olympics, Insp. Shields said.
"Disciplinary matters were dealt with swiftly and decisively and virtually all the incidents were relatively minor in the whole scheme of things," he said. "More importantly, the Games were safe and they were secure for athletes as well as spectators to the city."