Ex-officer Deborah Bourne made special constable by Waterloo Regional Police

Suspended officer Deborah Bourne will rejoin the Waterloo Regional Police Service as a special constable following a unanimous vote by the police board Wednesday.

In her new role, Bourne will serve as a special constable within the court services branch of the police service.

Bourne served with the WRPS for more than 20 years, but was placed under paid suspension in 2012. At the time, she faced 12 charges under the Police Services Act, including accusations of deceit, corruption and neglect of duty. 

The charges against Bourne were stayed in August through a settlement deal with the Waterloo Regional Police Association and the police service, who offered to hire her as a special constable in exchange for her resignation.

Undisclosed factors

The detailed reasons for Bourne's negotiated settlement have not been made public. But an undisclosed medical report played a significant role in both the settlement negotiations and the police board's ultimate decision, according to Waterloo Region Police Services Board chair Tom Galloway.

"It wasn't necessarily the only factor but it certainly was a complicating factor, the medical report that was received." Galloway says.

Under the Police Services Act, the charges against Bourne would be reinstated if she were rehired as a police officer within five years, but not if she was hired as a special constable.

Bourne's new appointment required approval from both the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services and the police services board. A final decision from the board was initially expected Sept. 9, but it was deferred until this month to allow for further consideration.

"The board needed to be satisfied that the individual, given the medical information and given the past performance and the training that she's gone through to become a special constable, would pose no risk to the public, and we came to that conclusion," says Galloway.

"We were not ruling on the charges or the allegations against her; that was not really an issue for us to consider. We just had to be considerate that, in the public interest, she could perform her duties."

As a special constable, Bourne will face a $25,000 decrease in salary and a significant shift in responsibilities. She will work primarily in court security with very limited use-of-force options. According to Galloway, her access to documents will be restricted and she will not have computer access to most classified information.

Still, Bourne may have limited access to some private information about members of the public.

"Certainly when any special constable is moving a prisoner from lockup into the courtroom, they may have access to files that go along with that particular prisoner," says Galloway. "So there certainly are access to certain pieces of information, but nothing like a regular constable would have access to."

Police services board dissatisfied with process

The police services board was not consulted during the settlement negotiation - in spite of the fact that their approval was required for Bourne to become a special constable. That was a source of frustration for the police board, Galloway says.

"The board has made it clear that in the future if there is some kind of a negotiation going on that involves an appointment to become a special constable then the board needs to be involved early on to determined whether the board even wants that to be considered, because we do have the final approval on special constables."

Galloway also hopes Bourne's case will put pressure on the government to change the provisions for suspension with pay in the Police Services Act.

"It's really out of hand in terms of how long some of these officers can be suspended with pay. Not in this particular case… but we certainly have had cases recently where that's been claimed to be the case," Galloway says.

"I think that's part of the issue for many people that I've talked to in her case. It's not even so much her being rehired or being transitioned into another position. It's, 'How long does it take?'"