Calgary police investigates its own officers for corruption, harassment

Seven people — including two current and three retired Calgary police officers — are the subject of an investigation into corruption, harassment and breach of trust, according to CBC sources.

Retired CPS officer Steve Walton started a private investigation firm and was contracting other current and former officers for jobs like surveillance and as guards.

One of Walton's clients, based in Edmonton, was in the middle of a child-custody battle. He initially hired Walton's company to track his ex-girlfriend in an effort to make sure she didn't disappear with their child.

The child's mother is the one who made the initial harassment complaint to police, which launched the investigation about a year ago.

The Crown's office in Edmonton has had the file since September but has not yet made any recommendations on charges.

• MORE CALGARY NEWS | Car prowlings spike to 20-year high in Calgary​
• MORE CALGARY NEWS | Calgary real estate slides again in November as prices drop 5.1%

Income for guarding wine cellar not disclosed

Another of Walton's clients was a wealthy oil and gas executive who has a flood-affected home on Elbow Drive that had to be evacuated.

Inside the home was a wine cellar worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and the client hired Walton's company to have guards sit outside the home to protect its contents. Those guards were paid $1,000 per shift. 

The two current members are being accused of failing to disclose that employment to the Calgary Police Service. It's believed they made tens of thousands dollars each in extra income.

Those same two officers are being investigated for data breaches through a review of forensic computer and phone data as part of the criminal harassment investigation. It's alleged they were asked by Walton to gather private information from the internal systems.

They have been suspended with pay pending the outcome of the investigation.

"It's a very, very serious oath that we take and the protection of that information that we collect through the course of our duties is paramount and so to breach that and to access those databases is a significant breach of our oath," said CPS spokesman Kevin Brookwell.

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) has been called in to provide oversight. The privacy commissioner has also been notified.