LPS officer found not guilty of discreditable conduct

By Southern Alberta Newspapers on February 24, 2022.

During a disciplinary hearing Wednesday, Lethbridge Police Service Sgt. Jason Moulton was found not guilty on one count of discreditable conduct.

Sgt. Moulton was charged with one count of discreditable conduct which reads, “That you engaged in discreditable conduct, contrary to s. 5(1)(e) of the Police Service Regulation, as defined by section 5(2)(e)(ii) of the Police Service Regulation, by using oppressive or tyrannical conduct towards a subordinate;” to which he pleaded not guilty in November 2021 and was found not guilty on Wednesday.

The hearing at the Culvert Room in city hall was in relation to a matter from 2018, where a private chat group was created in WhatsApp under the name “Meme Militia,” where texts, memes and gifs were distributed to LPS officers within the group.

The communications, which were found to be offensive and against LPS policies, were described in an agreed statement of facts as “profane, abusive and insulting” and targeted the LPS executive, other officers and society in general. A sealing order has been in place on those communications and will not be lifted until all matters are resolved.

After reviewing the evidence, interviewing two witnesses and multiple definitions of the words tyrannical and oppressive, presiding officer Paul Manuel determined that Moulton’s actions did not rise to the level of tyrannical or oppressive as defined in the various sources reviewed.

Moulton, who previously pleaded guilty to two counts of discreditable conduct, one count of insubordination and two counts of neglect of duty, had one additional count of insubordination and one count of discreditable conduct withdrawn.

Presiding Officer Paul Manuel delivered his ruling Feb. 23, before adjourning the matter to March 25, at which time sanction arguments for all five of the proven counts will be heard.

Following an internal complaint, the matter was referred to an outside agency for investigation and LPS received the findings in late December 2020. After a thorough review, outside legal counsel was retained to prosecute the officers on misconduct charges.

Police conduct in Alberta is governed by the Criminal Code of Canada and Alberta’s Police Act and Police Service Regulation. There is a range of potential disciplinary outcomes in cases of misconduct, including changes to policy and training, reprimand, demotion, pay deductions, suspension and dismissal.

In total, five officers were charged with misconduct under the Alberta Police Act and Police Service Regulation in relation to the meme group incident. Matters have already been concluded for four other officers involved.

Const. David Easter and Const. Matt Rilkoff who pleaded guilty to two counts of discreditable conduct and one count each of insubordination and neglect of duty in November 2021 have been demoted within rank for one year, and Const. Keon Woronuk and Const. Derek Riddell have resigned.

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