Public hearing set to begin for veteran VPD officer accused of sexual harassment
Complaint proceeding first under new rules designed to tackle delays in police disciplinary process
A public hearing is set to begin Wednesday into allegations of sexual harassment levelled by students and other police officers against a senior member of the Vancouver Police Department.
The proceeding against Sgt. Keiron McConnell is the first to be called by B.C.'s Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner (OPCC) since the introduction last year of new legislation designed to overcome lengthy delays in the police disciplinary process.
According to documents released in advance of the hearing, McConnell — a 33-year veteran who at one time presided over the VPD's gang squad — is accused of sending sexual messages through text and social media to three female police officers between 2015 and 2019.
McConnell — who holds a doctorate from London Metropolitan University — is also accused of sending inappropriate messages to three students at Royal Roads University and one student at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, two of the many post-secondary institutions where he taught.
One of the students ultimately "changed her mind about becoming a police officer, which she attributed to her experience with Sergeant McConnell," according to the notice the OPCC issued last summer to announce the hearing.
The notice said another of the students claimed "the messages concerned and upset her because Sergeant McConnell was well connected in the policing environment, and she did not want to offend him and jeopardize her academic status or a future career as a police officer."
'Inappropriate and sexual'
The OPCC is a civilian, independent body tasked with overseeing and monitoring complaints and investigations involving municipal police in British Columbia.
Wednesday's hearing represents the first public airing of allegations that surfaced in December 2021, when a photo of McConnell on social media drew anonymous comments accusing the officer of being a "sexual predator" with "a history of sexually assaulting his students."
"Upon becoming aware of the post and associated comments, a female colleague (Member A) of Sergeant McConnell provided a series of Facebook messages she had exchanged with Sergeant McConnell in 2018 to VPD's professional standards section," the OPCC's notice reads.
"Member A alleged the Facebook messages from Sergeant McConnell began as friendly but progressed to what she felt were inappropriate and sexual. Member A felt she could not report Sergeant McConnell's conduct due to his rank and status within the VPD."
The Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner ordered the VPD's professional standards unit to investigate the allegation and appointed Surrey Police Service Chief Norm Lipinski to review their report as an external disciplinary authority.
A publication ban prohibits identifying any of the female complainants, including their current places of employment.
According to the OPCC, McConnell "admitted to sending some of the messages as alleged; however, he stated that, among other things, the communications were intended to be private and were exchanged between consenting adults."
"Sergeant McConnell maintained that, had the recipients of these communications told him to cease, he would have done so," the notice of hearing reads.
"[He] ... denied that he had engaged in discreditable conduct with respect to the allegations made by the seven women."
Last April, the VPD's professional standards branch found allegations of discreditable conduct involving five of the women had been substantiated. By contrast, Lipinski found substantive allegations involving six of the seven women.
'A human rights and workplace safety issue'
Prior to 2024, the Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner couldn't call a public hearing until the disciplinary process played itself out, along with any associated appeals — which in some cases have taken more than a decade.
The new rules allow the commissioner to call a public hearing at any stage after the completion of the initial investigation if they consider it "necessary or in the public interest."
In ordering Wednesday's hearing, the OPCC said the nature of the alleged misconduct warranted a hearing.
"Sexual harassment is both a human rights and workplace safety issue, especially where a power imbalance is implicitly or explicitly exploited," the commissioner wrote.
"In my view, addressing sexualized behaviour in work and educational settings is a critical issue in society and particularly in policing where the law grants police officers significant authority."
The OPCC's notice says the public hearing "is well placed to assist in determining the truth."
"In this case, there are direct conflicts between the accounts of Sergeant McConnell and the affected women," the notice reads.
"At a public hearing, public hearing counsel, the member and commission counsel can call and question relevant witnesses and seek to introduce relevant evidence."
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