Conduct Case MPCC‑2013‑023 Summary
On July 13, 2013, the complainant, himself a Military Police (MP) member at the time, made a number of conduct and interference complaints with the Military Police Complaints Commission (the Commission). These complaints related to the actions of a Warrant Officer (WO) and raised several matters related to the general and daily operations at the MP Detachment.
The allegations in this specific complaint relate to an incident that occurred in the winter of 2013, when the WO was delivering a pizza as part of a second job he had taken for personal financial reasons. The complainant alleged that, in the course of this employment, the WO facilitated a woman’s violation of a judicial no-contact order by forwarding half a pizza to her former spouse, despite an active domestic assault investigation involving the two parties by the MP Detachment. The complainant further alleges the WO then failed to report this “known information about a breach of recognizance (conditions)” to his MP colleagues until the next day.
Having reviewed this complaint and relevant file material, the Commission determined this matter does not fall within the statutory definition of a conduct complaint subject to review by this Commission.
While the WO was an MP member at the time of the alleged events, the conduct at issue did not relate to the exercise of any of the policing duties or functions listed in the legislation.
Rather, the subject MP’s conduct occurred while the WO was off duty, engaged in other employment. If the WO did act as alleged in the complaint (and this has not been determined one way or the other by this Commission), it is clear these actions did not take place in the context of any policing duties or functions, and did not involve the WO putting himself on duty or invoking his status or responsibilities as an MP member. In other words, it is not for the Commission to pass judgment on the WO’s alleged actions, as they did not relate to policing.
Consequently, the Commission agrees with the determination of the Deputy Commander that no investigation is necessary in this case, as the complaint is not a valid conduct complaint within the meaning of National Defence Act (NDA) Part IV.
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