Drug-stealing cop gets full pay
Appeals mean salary could continue for two years

Andrew Seymour, Canwest News Service
Published: Monday, February 11

OTTAWA - More than a year after Const. Kevin Hall was ordered fired from the Ottawa police after admitting he stole drugs to feed a crack cocaine habit, he's still being paid his $71,000 annual salary -- and could continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

The 44-year-old officer has filed a second appeal of his dismissal from the police department, asking Ontario's divisional court to overturn a December 2006 decision that he resign within seven days or be fired -- a ruling that was upheld two months ago by a civilian commission that oversees police services in the province.

But in a potentially precedent-setting move that could affect Hall and other suspended officers like him across Ontario, Ottawa police have filed a motion asking the court to uphold the initial disciplinary hearing decision so they can immediately stop paying his salary and benefits pending the outcome of the most recent appeal.

The motion, which is scheduled to be heard March 6 in an Ottawa courtroom, is asking for Hall's appeal to be dismissed outright on the grounds that the officer has failed to file all the necessary paperwork to support the appeal.

If that argument is rejected, Ottawa police are asking the court to remove their obligation to pay Hall while he fights to keep his job during the lengthy appeals process, which could take up to two more years to complete.

But the association representing Ottawa police officers said they strongly oppose the police department's motion, accusing the service of trying to find a way around the Ontario Police Services Act, which includes provisions preventing officers from being suspended without pay.

"He hasn't been fired as of yet. He is still technically a member of the police service," Ottawa police association president Charles Momy said.

Currently, the law only allows officers who are imprisoned to be suspended without pay.

Hall admitted during the disciplinary hearing to taking crack cocaine from motorists he stopped, as well as from the evidence locker, for his own personal use. He was never criminally charged.