Const. Jeffrey Greetham, who was a 21-year veteran of the Gatineau police, was formally charged Monday after a complaint of sexual assault was filed with police. The details of the incident are not clear, but the allegations date back to the period between April 21 and May 1, 2010.
“He was an employee, but was not on duty at the time,” said Gatineau police Insp. Eric Dinel. “I could not comment any further on this because it’s in court.”
The formal charge was approved Monday by a justice of the peace, Dinel said.
Greetham pleaded not guilty at a brief court appearance Tuesday in Gatineau.
The charges follow his dismissal in February by the city after a disciplinary enquiry found improper conduct. The police union is fighting the matter before an arbitrator, arguing the force shouldn’t have investigated one of its own.
The union was unreachable for comment Tuesday.
It’s not the first time Greetham had faced disciplinary measures. In December 2005, the former officer was slapped with a 23-day suspension in connection with the arrest of a minor in June 2003. A provincial disciplinary committee found he abused his power during an arrest and search.
Greetham fought the ruling and his suspension was lowered to 15 days.
He was also suspended in 1999 when he was found guilty of having sex in public following an incident at a Buckingham bar.
Greetham was dismissed Feb. 9, 2011.
The disciplinary action taken is typical of police forces anywhere.
There is one "red flag" in the history of this officer and that was his "having
sex in public following an incident at a Buckingham bar."
The other incidents each by themselves would not get a cop fired in almost any
police force anywhere. Its the string of incidents that need to be considered.
Was this a prolifically active cop who just made mistakes? cops you don't make
mistakes don' t do any work. The more work you do in any field the more likely
it is that mistakes will happen.
What is disturbing is that the last allegation, while sound serious and a "final
straw" on the surface, could well turn out to be a false allegation, a trumped
up allegation, it has yet to be proven and without due process he has been fired
which is very obviously, a knee jerk reaction.
Charges of "sexual assault" can be anything from an attempted rape, an unwanted
groping, consensual protected sex that was had unprotected, or just an physical
touch to the wrong person at the wrong time. When police lay charges, the
evidence can be non-existent, when its laid by a "justice of the peace" the
charge could be in fact laid by the person alleging the assault, or anyone else
who wanted to have a hearing before a justice of the peace.
There are some "red flags" with this charge of sexual assault.
First is that the time from the alleged "incidents" and the laying of the
charge. When there is such a long period of time the odds of a conviction become
remote but will probably not stop a long trial at great cost to the accused and
the government who habitually engage in politically correct prosecutions that
have no prospect of a conviction.
Another red flag is that this officer obviously has a lot of people who don't
want him as a cop and its almost guaranteed that he would end up being charged
with a politically correct, allegation that will in effect put him on trial for
what he has done in the past and not the alleged sexual assault.
Another red flag is just how is he going to get an impartial objective hearing?
Those red flags aside, its that "having sex in public" that shows he has a
personality disorder that is conduct that should get a cop fired.
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