Police officers suspended with pay have cost London, Ont., taxpayers $5.2 million in the last 11 years, as the city grapples with one of the highest suspension rates in the province.

The numbers show London Police Service had 16 officers suspended with pay in the last decade, representing 2.4 per cent of the force. So far in 2024, the service has paid its two suspended officers nearly $91,000 in salary.

Of those 16 officers, nine were suspended for gender-based violence, including sexual assault, sexual harassment and intimate partner violence.

"By way of being a police officer in our community, you uphold the law and you are in a position of power. It's about trust," said Jennifer Dunn, executive director of the London Abused Women's Centre and a frequent police critic.

In Ontario, more than one-third of the allegations against suspended officers involved gender-based violence including sexual assault, intimate partner violence and sexual harassment. In London, 56 per cent of officers suspended with pay were accused of an act of gender-based violence.

A CBC News investigation found that police suspensions cost taxpayers about $134 million over the past 11 years. The investigation collected publicly available information about officers across 44 police departments.

London police Chief Thai Truong declined to be interviewed for this story, as did police services board chair Ali Chahbar.

In London, the average length of suspension with pay is 780 days, higher than the provincial average of 675 days. The longest suspension with pay from the London police was 1,428 days. That's how long former constable Steve Williams, 47, spent suspended with pay — 3 years, 11 months and three days.

Williams faces dozens of charges, including sexual assault by choking, sexual assault causing bodily harm and forcible confinement, among others. London police have issued a public safety alert about him and released names he uses on dating sites. Williams was suspended with pay in 2017 and eventually resigned in 2021.

"What is going on in regards to his sense of power and entitlement and feeling like he can get away with things repeatedly," said Dunn. "A lot of this needs to become a bigger conversation about why this is allowed to happen and about the level of confidence that women and girls have with police and with the criminal justice system."

Every police officer in Ontario must comply with a code of conduct from the moment they are hired. If suspected of violating this disciplinary code or breaking the law, their chief can suspend them.

Suspensions with pay remain largely supported by Ontario police unions, which maintain that unless an officer is convicted of wrongdoing, they are entitled to the presumption of innocence. As of April 1, chiefs can suspend officers without pay if they're in jail or on bail with conditions that would interfere with their ability to do their job, or if the officer is charged with a serious off-duty offence that could also lead to their firing.

"Chiefs have never had the ability to suspend an officer without pay until April 1," said former London police chief Murray Faulkner. "It's a benefit to the taxpayer because you don't have to pay the salary."

Long delays in a case moving through the courts meant officers languished at home while getting paid, as they waited for their charges to be settled, Faulkner said.

"In policing, you really have to understand you're signing up for a way of life and that way of life needs to be exemplary."