Vancouver police officer arrested
for impaired driving

Denise Ryan, Vancouver Sun, Aug. 31, 2009

A Vancouver police officer has been charge with impaired driving.
Photo: Vancouver Sun files

VANCOUVER — A long-serving Vancouver police officer was placed on administrative duty Monday following his arrest the previous day in Burnaby for impaired driving.

The officer was stopped at 3:45 a.m. at an RCMP roadblock on Highway 1 and Gagliardi Way. The officer was arrested and released, but he cannot be named unless criminal charges are filed.

“There would have been evidence at the road check to give the officer grounds to obtain the breath sample,” said RCMP spokesperson Peter Thiessen.

Those grounds include “the obvious signs of impairment,” said Thiessen. “He provided breath samples, was over the legal limit, processed and provided a document to appear in court at a later date.”

A decision on criminal charges is expected once Crown Council [sic] has reviewed the RCMP report, Thiessen said.

VPD spokesperson Lindsey Houghton said the officer has not been suspended. “We were just informed of it, and we want to give the officer, as any employee in any company would want, the opportunity to discuss it with our human resources section and managers,” said Houghton.

Houghton could not comment on exactly what the officer’s administrative duties would be.

Houghton said the officer has no prior history of driving while intoxicated or any other criminal offence. The RCMP will be conducting the investigation.

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