KENNETH JACKSON, SUN MEDIA
OTTAWA -- An Ottawa police officer was accused at a disciplinary hearing yesterday of providing the personal information of a fellow cop to a known drug dealer.
Sgt. Chris McGuinness testified he was 100% convinced Const. Daniel Bargh did just that when it was learned Bargh had been accessing the personal information of 13 officers, including McGuinness.
McGuinness said he was enraged when he found out Bargh obtained his home address and other information through the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC), adding it was the worst thing a cop could do to another cop.
It wasn't just the searching that made McGuinness furious, but the fact he knew Bargh was associating with someone police believed to be a drug dealer in 2006.
McGuinness said he still believes Bargh gave his personal information to the dealer despite there being no proof.
"I'm not going to get into what I wanted to do or say to (Bargh)," said McGuinness of when he found out.
HISTORY OF TROUBLE
Bargh, an officer with a history of misconduct, is also alleged to have inappropriately accessed police databases to search his father, civilians, four lovers and himself more than 100 times between Feb. 1, 2005 and Nov. 26, 2007.
Bargh, who is on active duty, has pleaded not guilty to five related charges, including lying to police about knowing the drug dealer when CPIC records showed he had searched him by name several times. He's also charged with associating with the dealer.
It was McGuinness who first alerted police to Bargh when he spotted Bargh at an Elgin St. night club with the coke dealer in November 2006.
It's alleged Bargh or the dealer made crude comments about McGuinness that night that were overheard by a friend of McGuinness. The friend gave testimony to that account yesterday.
McGuinness went on to ask the drug unit to look into the dealer and Bargh.
McGuinness then briefly mentioned the encounter, up to six months later over a cigarette, to a cop from the professional standards unit that looks into officer conduct.
The information found its way to the chief who requested an investigation.
BOTH DATED WOMAN
Bargh's lawyer made suggestions throughout the hearing that Bargh searched officer's names because they were victims of crimes in the zone he worked. He also suggested Bargh and McGuinness might have had a rivalry over a woman, whom they both dated. McGuinness denied it.
The hearing continues today.
KENNETH.JACKSON@SUNMEDIA.CA