Criminal probe into RNC set to resume this week

Investigators with Nova Scotia's Serious Incident Response Team will be in St. John's this week to continue their criminal investigation into senior members of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary.

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"There are some areas of complexity and detail that need to be followed up on," said Ron MacDonald, the civilian director of SIRT.

"We are continuing with our work."

MacDonald wouldn't release any further details about the investigation and says it still impossible to update how long it is expected to take.

But CBC News has learned that the initial complaint that sparked this investigation was made against as many as seven senior members of the RNC — all holding the rank of sergeant or higher.

The RNC isn't releasing any further details about the case. But a spokesperson told CBC News in a statement that no officers under investigation have been reassigned.

"All staff have remained in their current assignments. We will await the results of the SIRT investigation before deciding if any action is required," a spokesperson wrote in an email.

Use of criminal as informant

CBC News revealed last month that the RNC was under criminal investigation by MacDonald and his agency.  The investigation involves senior RNC managers, and is focused on their use of a criminal as an informant during a high-level investigation.

The informant was supposed to provide the RNC with information it needed to crack its case. But sources say the informant continued to commit crimes without being arrested — even though some of the incidents were witnessed by police officers.

This was allowed to continue for a period of several weeks until the informant assaulted and injured two people and was finally arrested.

"This is a criminal investigation, so certainly criminal charges are a potential outcome," MacDonald said at the time.

"I don't owe allegiance to anyone in this matter," he said. "At the end of the day we will make the right conclusions based on the facts of the case."

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The Department of Justice and Public Safety called in SIRT in November 2015, after receiving a complaint.

"In the circumstances they felt it best that an independent organization outside of Newfoundland conduct that investigation," MacDonald said.

"To ensure that, at the end of the day, the public of Newfoundland could see that this investigation wasn't conducted by other police agencies or by the home agency, but in fact by an independent organization from another province."