Canada

• More than one-third of the allegations against suspended officers involved gender-based violence including sexual assault, intimate partner violence and sexual harassment.
• The majority (87 per cent) of suspensions were accompanied by a criminal charge.
• Nearly half of all officers suspended and convicted of a crime returned to work. Just under one in 10 were fired.
• The vast majority were constables, but all ranks were represented including chiefs and deputy chiefs.
• Eleven officers were suspended multiple times during the past decade.

This is all incredibly embarrassing and infuriating.

It is incredible how powerful the police union is. No other job is as well protected. I'm in a union and there are dozens of things that are instant dismissals. Assault, sexual harassment, and theft are all things that will get you walked out the door without warning. It's amazing a police officer can assault someone while working, be convicted of criminal charges, and then keep their job.

It is insane that somehow we managed to import the toxic police union culture from America.

It makes sense to make sure police officers aren't forced into bankruptcy while charges are pending but ideally we'd rely on EI and social insurance for that.

Note they suspend a cop pending investigation, but the paper didn't include that. The alternative to suspension is keeping a potential offender on the job, but they can't have someone lose their house on an accusation that turns out to be unfounded, so suspension is the ugly middle-ground.

And, cops are paid by taxes. Duh. So it's "taxpayers" footing the bill that's artificially blown up by an arbitrary time period to push a story.

Report on the fact that cops are getting in trouble and too many of them are kept on in the same spots where they offended. Don't make it a taxation and pay issue to suck in the hillbilly con-lovers when it's really a disciplinary thing. Pick a fucking dog whistle and stick with it.