RCMP officers face firing over ‘atrocious’ racist behaviour, harassment

By The Canadian Press on September 20, 2024.

VANCOUVER – Three RCMP members from a Metro Vancouver detachment could be fired over alleged “atrocious,” “racist” and “horrible” behaviour detailed by a fellow officer.

A schedule from the RCMP shows Constables Philip Dick, Ian Solven and Mersad Mesbah are slated to appear next February for code of conduct hearings over allegations including discrimination, harassment and discrediting the police force.

In court filings to obtain a search warrant, an officer in the RCMP’s Professional Standards Unit in Coquitlam, B.C., says another member in the detachment complained about being harassed by the accused officers.

The complaint also describes a “climate of harassment” from the trio “directed at others based on race, gender and their perceived value as police officers.”

The complainant – who was trained by Dick – says in the complaint that officers engaged in comments on a mobile chat group, in some cases bragging about “Tasering unarmed black people,” making fun of a female police employee’s genitalia and not wanting to help another officer on a call because he was gay.

A legal document released on Sept. 12 says the RCMP intend “to seek termination of the members’ employment at the hearing, and the three members have been suspended since June 2021 when the allegations emerged.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 20, 2024.

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