GATINEAU COPS BOOT RECRUITS

Three Gatineau police officers were handed their walking papers in
October because of bad behaviour and drugs. Two officers, hired at the
beginning of the summer, did not have their contracts renewed by the
department because of an incident involving drugs.

A third police officer was given the boot for his behaviour.

"All I can say, is these dismissals are connected to competence and we
carry out this kind of investigation regularly," Gatineau police
Lieut. Yves Martel said, noting the department realized quickly
something wasn't quite right with the three officers.

'SET AN EXAMPLE'

While he admitted the incident involved drugs, he said it did not
involve possession as that would have required the department to lay
criminal charges.

"One might say there was a lack of evidence," he said. "In this case,
the elements weren't there to make a (criminal) case."

However, the department did feel it had to take some
action.

"There are standards, notably ethics, to respect. As police officers,
we must set an example for citizens," Martel said.