OFFICERS' SUIT OVER TRANSFERS REJECTED

Tip Led To Probe Of Drug Squad Cops

Ontario's highest court has rejected a lawsuit against their superiors by
three veteran Essex County OPP officers, who went from hunting down drug
dealers to mundane jobs after unsubstantiated theft accusations led to an
investigation of the local drug unit.

Det. Staff Sgt. Frank Abbott, Det. Const. Tim Nyhoff and Const. Chance
Chase allege in documents that their transfers out of the drug unit in 2000
were a disguised form of punishment, offering them no recourse but to sue.

The Ontario Court of Appeal disagreed in a decision released Thursday.

"There is no gap which would give the Superior Court jurisdiction to hear
the matter as a civil cause of action, the essential nature of which matter
is discipline including disguised discipline," says the decision written by
Justice Kathryn Feldman and endorsed by justices John Morden and David Doherty.

The three officers should make their case to the Ontario Civilian
Commission on Police Services, which hears appeals of discipline decisions
made against officers under the Police Services Act, the appeal court
judges said.

The problem is that Abbott, Chase and Nyhoff were never charged under the
Police Services Act and given no reason why they should be disciplined,
said their lawyer Craig Allen.

Their OPP superiors "avoided the act altogether. They disguised the
discipline -- it's a disguised form of discipline these transfers and
secondments. So I say, what remedies do I have now under this Police
Services Act? The only remedy I have is to make a complaint (to the
commission) and that doesn't get me anywhere," he said.

Allen said an application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court is being
considered.

Harry McMurtry, lawyer for the six senior officers named in the lawsuit,
could not be reached for comment. When the case was argued before the
appeal court in November, he said Abbott, Nyhoff and Chase should be filing
grievances under their collective agreement.

The six officers being sued took the case to the appeal court after Windsor
Superior Court Justice Terry Patterson ruled the lawsuit should proceed.

Abbott, Chase and Nyhoff were seeking $650,000 each in damages from four
superiors and two other officers, according to a statement of claim filed
with the court. They also wanted the transfers and changes in their job
descriptions quashed. Allegations in the statement of claim have not been
proven in court.

The three officers' complaints go back to an anonymous Crime Stoppers tip
that led to an internal investigation of the OPP's Windsor-based drug
enforcement unit in 2000. While no discipline charges were ever laid,
Abbott, Chase and Nyhoff were transferred out of the unit by the end of the
year.

Named as defendants in the lawsuit are OPP Deputy Commissioner Vaughn
Collins, Det. Chief Supt. David Crane, Det. Supt. James Hutchinson and Det.
Insp. Ronald Gentle. Also named are Staff Sgt. Steve Layton, who was
assigned to audit the Windsor-based drug unit and Det. Sgt. Brett Mailloux,
current team leader of the unit.

Hutchinson and other OPP officers came to Windsor on April 26, 2000 and
informed the members of the drug unit they were doing an internal
investigation and audit because of a Crime Stoppers tip, according to court
documents. The tipster claimed Chase had stolen money and a satellite card
while executing search warrants and had stolen guns from another detective
constable's office.

The lawsuit alleges investigators used an undercover officer posing as a
money-toting criminal in an unsuccessful sting operation against Chase. He
was assigned to help catch the supposed money launderer, who he was told
was taking a large amount of cash to Casino Windsor. Chase and two other
Essex OPP officers arrested the suspect and seized his car and money.

CREDENTIALS

* Staff Sgt. Frank Abbott, 48, has been with the OPP 29 years and is
working out of the Essex detachment. He headed the Windsor drug unit for
four years.

* Det. Const. Tim Nyhoff, 39, has been with the OPP 18 years and is with
the criminal investigations unit. He was with the drug unit for eight years.

* Const. Chance Chase, 38, has been with the OPP 17 years. He is a patrol
officer in Essex County and is also a member of the emergency response
unit. He was with the drug unit for two years.