A recently released report revealed a Saanich Police officer was dismissed from the department after committing a serious “misconduct.”
This former officer was officially dismissed from duty for breaking into someone’s home and sexually assaulting them, though a civilian would face prison time for the same actions.
Saanich Police reportedly contacted the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner (OPCC) to request an investigation after this incident came to their attention.
According to the OPCC’s 2024-2025 Substantiated Allegations Summaries report, the victim reported that after a social interaction at a restaurant, the officer entered their home and bedroom without invitation or announcement.
The officer then initiated sexual contact with the victim without consent.
Upon receiving Saanich Police’s request for an investigation, the OPCC assigned the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) to the investigation as the Disciplinary Authority.
This investigation was initially suspended after RCMP initiated a criminal investigation into the matter.
RCMP completed their investigation and recommended no criminal charges against the Saanich Police officer.
However, OPCC still wanted to proceed with their investigation, and directed VPD to do so following the RCMP investigation.
VPD investigators ultimately disagreed with RCMP’s results and found that the Saanich Police member had committed the “misconduct” they were accused of.
“The Discipline Authority found on a balance of probabilities that the member had committed the alleged misconduct,” reads the report.
“The Discipline Authority further found this conduct was unprofessional, egregious, and amounted to the highest level of Police Act misconduct.”
They added that no punishment short of dismissal would suffice for this incident, as the victim had suffered significant and ongoing trauma as a result of this officer’s actions.
In the end, the accused officer resigned before being dismissed.
OPCC added that although the member resigned before the conclusion of this matter, their service record of discipline will reflect that they were dismissed by Saanich Police.
A civilian accused of the same actions as this former Saanich Police officer would likely end up serving several years to life imprisonment for breaking-and-entering and rape.
This former officer was able to simply resign early, and will still be able to collect their accrued pension.
Neither OPCC, nor Saanich Police named the officer in question.
