CPS officer fired over high-speed chase given 3rd chance to fight for job
Meghan Grant | CBC News | Posted: May 10, 2017 6:43 PM | Last Updated: May 10, 2017
The Alberta Court of Appeal will hear arguments in Anthony Braile's case
A Calgary police officer who was fired for discreditable and corrupt conduct has been given another chance to fight for his job.
The Alberta Court of Appeal will hear arguments in Anthony Braile's court battle for the reinstatement of his job as a sergeant with the Calgary Police Service.
Braile — only the second officer in 20 years to be fired from the CPS — was fired in February 2016 following a disciplinary hearing where he admitted to nine counts of professional misconduct and was found to have committed several Police Service Regulation offences.
In June, Braile was charged with criminal harassment, breach of trust and bribery stemming from an unrelated CPS investigation.
The chase
In December 2008, about six months after returning to work from a mental health leave, Braile was working in District 2 when he pulled over a suspected drunk driver.
"Braile engaged in a lengthy and dangerous high-speed chase, contrary to CPS policy, that ultimately ended in a crash that injured a civilian and threatened the safety of numerous others," reads the appeal decision.
He was also found to have lied to the CPS dispatcher during the chase and to his superior officer afterwards.
At the time, the chief laid 10 charges against Braile and though he admitted to most of the wrongdoing, the officer's defence was that he was suffering from mental health issues at the time of the chase and should be allowed to keep his job.
'Mental disorder'
Braile argued he should not have been sent back to active street duty so soon after returning from mental health leave without being cleared by his psychologist.
Though he was found to be suffering a "mental disorder," the presiding officer decided Braile's dismissal was an appropriate penalty for his misconduct.
Last year, Braile's lawyer Jim Shymka said his client had been on leave for severe depression, was under the care of CPS psychologists and had been hospitalized prior to the chase incident.
When Braile returned to duty a few months later, he was supposed to have been assigned to administrative work, Shymka said.
Court of Appeal
The Law Enforcement Review Board ultimately dismissed the appeal but Braile sought to have the Alberta Court of Appeal hear his case.
The court will allow arguments that the board erred in upholding Braile's dismissal, specifically in placing the burden on Braile to prove his innocence instead of CPS proving his guilt.
No date has been set for the Alberta Court of Appeal hearing.
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