CORRUPTION CHARGE MAY BE DROPPED IN OPP CASE

Police Act charges against a Gananoque OPP officer who
bought a house at a bargain price after it was seized from a Kingston
drug dealer are expected to be withdrawn today.

Sgt. Ed Hickey is to appear before an OPP disciplinary hearing this
morning. He was charged last spring with corrupt practice and
insubordination under the Police Services Act - legislation that
contains a code of conduct for all police officers in Ontario.

The 20-year veteran of the OPP paid $52,500 for the partially built
house and two lots, which were valued at $170,000, according to a
police release issued to the media in 2001 when the property was seized.

Hickey did security patrols on the home at 6 Sturtivan's Lane, in a
scenic area near the Thousand Islands Parkway, after it was seized by
the OPP proceeds of crime unit.

The patrol officer's purchase of the two-storey wood home on the St.
Lawrence River has sparked at least two internal OPP investigations
and an acknowledgement from the provincial force of a gap in its policies.

The OPP has also drafted, but hasn't yet put in place, a new policy
for officers, prohibiting them from being able to buy the goods police
seize.

The case against Hickey was to be heard today during a public
proceeding - similar to a trial- at a Kingston hotel, but the matter
is not expected to proceed.

Though the tribunal will open at 10 a.m., police prosecutors are
expected to withdraw the charges after negotiating with participants
in the case in recent days.

Yesterday, OPP Insp. Kathy Rippey of the force's professional
standards bureau did not return calls to The Whig-Standard.

Last May, when Hickey first appeared before a disciplinary hearing in
Orillia, Rippey told the newspaper that corrupt practice isn't a
common charge and that the seriousness depends on each individual case.

She also said that a guilty finding on either or both of the charges
could result in disciplinary action ranging from suspension and
demotion to dismissal.

Few details were available yesterday about why the charges against the
officer may not proceed.

"I have no other further information on that at all," Sgt. Terry Blace
at OPP headquarters in Orillia told the newspaper.

"I have no idea, honestly. The only thing I can tell you is that
[this] morning we'll find out ourselves."

Hickey, who still lives in the former drug dealer's house, has refused
to discuss the charges against him.

"I don't care to talk to you, thank you," he told The Whig yesterday
before abruptly hanging up the telephone when contacted at home.

He said the same thing last May when he appeared before a disciplinary
hearing.

"I don't care to discuss my personal life," he told the
newspaper.

After The Whig published a story last March detailing Hickey's home
purchase, several MPs called on the federal government to review
legislation on proceeds of crime.

The story revealed a secretive, unmonitored system that surrounds the
handling of millions of dollars of goods that police across Canada
seize from criminals under proceeds-of-crime law every year.

Both federal and provincial politicians have since called for new
legislation that would prevent police officers from buying the spoils
they seize from criminals.

Hickey was still on duty last spring when the newspaper published
details of his house purchase. But Gananoque OPP Const. Stacey Cooper
told The Whig yesterday that she didn't know when he would be
reporting for work again and instructed the newspaper not to try to
contact him again.

Moments after speaking with Cooper, OPP Sgt. Kristine Chollette also
called the newspaper to say that Hickey isn't to be called at home.