The Waterloo Regional Police Service is committed to being a transparent, thorough, and fair organization that respects applicable employment and labour legislation and the rights of the individual employee. The proceedings of the Police Services Act process, which brought allegations of misconduct against Deborah Bourne, was conducted in a public forum, through twenty-two separate Police Services Act appearances and was open to both the media and the public.
The local media covered the first appearance, and reported on the initial charges, and a member of the public called into almost every other appearance. It was said numerous times on the record, that most of the adjournments were to allow for the arranging of a jointly retained, independent medical examiner to assist in any possible resolution – a level of cooperation to be encouraged in these types of proceedings.
Following months of examination, it was on the public record that a resolution had been achieved and as a result, Deborah Bourne had resigned her office as a police officer on August 2, 2015, thereby staying her Police Services Act charges. We remind the public that these were allegations only, there was never a full hearing of evidence and that they were dealt with in accordance with the explicit terms of the Police Services Act. Whether she is qualified to take on another position in the organization is a separate and private employment matter.
“As an employer, and as Chief of Police, we have a responsibility to collect all the facts, evaluate every matter on a case-by-case basis, and apply compassion and understanding. That said, we have to balance the autonomy to manage our own human resources issues with transparency to the community. This entire process, including its resolution, has been held in the public domain and concluded weeks ago. As it was presented in the final, open Police Services Act appearances, Deborah Bourne is no longer a police officer. Out of respect for the process and for our members, anything additional is between an employee and an employer and although we understand the interest in this, we appreciate and are grateful for the public’s trust in us to manage these issues accordingly,” -Chief Bryan M. Larkin.
Therefore, out of respect for the settlement negotiations, the private and personal nature of the medical report and due to overriding employment and privacy issues, there will be no further comments to the media regarding this matter.
