Durham regional police Chief Mike Ewles is retiring next May after seven controversial years that reached a low point recently when Ontario’s Ombudsman wondered if the force was turning into a wild fraternity like the movie Animal House.
Ewles, 52, notified the Durham regional police services board on Monday about his pending departure, saying “it’s time to pass the torch” and focus more energy on his family and community interests.
“It is with mixed emotions that I made the announcement to the board today,” Ewles said in a statement. “I’ve committed my entire professional life to an organization in which I take great pride, that I love and care deeply about.”
Chairman Roger Anderson emphasized Ewles’ “outstanding” work rather than dwelling on any negative points about his tenure.
“On behalf of the police services board and Durham regional council, I would like to extend our sincere appreciation and congratulations to Chief Ewles for his outstanding leadership and dedicated service,” said Anderson who is also chairman of Durham region.
Anderson noted that under Ewles, the region has experienced a drop in crime and is working closely with community partners as a problem-solving organization and not simply reacting to criminal incidents.
Ewles, who was born in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough and raised in Oshawa, has worked for the force for 31 years after graduating from Queen’s University with a Bachelor of Arts degree. When Ewles became chief in 2007, he said it fulfilled a lifelong dream.
However, Ewles, an avid outdoorsman, has faced criticism for a number of incidents involving him or the misconduct of other officers.
The Durham regional police association accused Ewles of balking at a security guard’s request to check his wife’s purse before an Oshawa Generals hockey game in 2011. The association said Ewles claimed he was working undercover and carrying a weapon in his wife’s purse.
The association also alleged Ewles tried to intervene on behalf of a friend who police pulled over for speeding. But independent investigations exonerated Ewles of any wrongdoing in both cases.
Under Ewles’ watch, several officers have run into trouble for misconduct or received minor penalties.
In one incident this summer, a detective tweeted a series of derogatory comments to Ontario Ombudsman André Marin while on duty. The officer faces a disciplinary hearing for alleged discreditable conduct but Marin questioned whether this was normal behaviour in the Durham force.
“Police stations are not expected to be run like National Lampoon’s Animal House,” Marin said, comparing the situation to antics in the classic Hollywood comedy. “It’s not a frat house. It’s unfathomable that this could happen in a police station.”
Last year, Durham police did not lay criminal charges against an officer after an 8½-minute YouTube video caught him threatening to beat up and plant cocaine on a man. He received a penalty of two days’ work with no pay for discreditable conduct and returned to the force’s “front lines,” according to police.
In another incident, an off-duty officer drove his car into a ditch, left the scene and discarded police equipment in the garbage following some drinking at an Oshawa pub. The incident occurred after he attended a hockey game with fellow officers as a reward for good performance.
An on-duty officer who arrived at the scene “showed wilful blindness” in the situation. The off-duty officer lost about $960 in pay while the other working constable received a temporary demotion that cost him about $2,700 in gross pay. The force did not lay any criminal charges.
Earlier this year, Ewles faced internal criticism for ordering a suspended officer back to work after that officer was charged with sexual assault and making child pornography. Ewles told a newspaper he was frustrated with seeing suspended officers, who are charged with criminal offences, collect pay as their cases drag on for years.
From Metronews http://metronews.ca/news/toronto/824939/durham-police-chief-to-retire-after-multiple-controversies/#
About time, this guy has been covering for the scumbags in his police force and using his position to get away with stuff for too long. Remeber when he brought a handgun to the Oshawa Generals game and refused for his wife's purse to be searched because he was 'working undercover'. Good riddance scumbag.
