Keith Lacey, editor, Osoyoos Times
It has been more than 27 months since Const. Amit Goyal was suspended with pay from the Osoyoos detachment of the RCMP.
In that time, Goyal has continued to collect his full salary.
Considering he was a veteran officer and the pay scale RCMP officers rightfully receive, it’s safe to assume his salary and benefits were in the range of $90,000 to $100,000 a year.
If that’s accurate, Goyal has collected between $200,000 to $230,000 since he left Osoyoos under very controversial circumstances.
And he hasn’t worked a single day for the RCMP in any capacity.
Goyal left Osoyoos in the middle of June in 2013 under circumstances the RCMP investigators have continually refused to discuss in any kind of detail.
Under the RCMP Act, a member may be suspended if he or she is suspected or found to have contravened a federal or provincial law or the RCMP Code of Conduct.
Almost all suspensions of RCMP officers are with full pay, however, there have been a few cases where serious misconduct is alleged that an officer may be suspended without pay.
Goyal was suspended not long after a former Osoyoos man named Steve Condon came forward and said he was falsely accused of stealing two vehicles from Goyal’s residence.
Condon said he was “framed” to take the blame for the theft of a 2009 black Audi S5 belonging to Goyal as well as the theft a week later of a Ford Ranger truck loaned to Goyal by Collision Auto Craft in Osoyoos.
The charred remains of the burned out truck were found six days later on Anarchist Mountain.
RCMP investigators from Trail, who considered Condon a chief suspect in the auto thefts, interviewed him extensively on four occasions.
Even though Condon has a dubious criminal record and had numerous run-ins with Goyal, Condon insisted he had nothing to do with the vehicle thefts.
Condon underwent polygraph, or lie detector testing, to clear his name and the RCMP announced they would not be filing any charges against him.
Condon’s criminal record includes convictions for fraud, but he has insisted he had nothing to do with the vehicle thefts and it’s pretty clear he would have been charged if he had.
Condon has since filed a civil lawsuit against Goyal and the RCMP.
Condon states in his lawsuit that he moved from Osoyoos to the Lower Mainland “because the false allegations against him, his desire to avoid interactions with the RCMP, including Const. Goyal, who he knew had implicated him in the theft of the Audi and Ford.”
The lawsuit also cites details about several confrontations Condon alleges took place between him and Goyal over an extended period of time in Osoyoos.
While Goyal has never been charged with any criminal offence, he was scheduled to face a Police Services Act disciplinary hearing in Vancouver on July 28.
That hearing was postponed without any reasons being provided by the RCMP.
A second hearing date, set for Aug. 31, has also been postponed.
As of Tuesday’s press deadline, no date has been posted for the disciplinary hearing against Goyal to take place.
With each passing week, Goyal continues to collect close to $2,000 in wages.
While it can’t be forgotten that Goyal has not been charged with any criminal offence and none of the allegations against him have been proven in court, it’s very clear the system currently in place isn’t working.
Taxpayers should be outraged that their hard-earned money is being spent to continue paying an officer who hasn’t done a day of police work in more than 27 months.
Absolutely no reason has been given why two disciplinary hearings against Goyal have been cancelled.
The longer this drags on, the more money Goyal continues to collect from the public purse.
There are valid arguments on either side of the debate as to whether police officers who are suspended should continue to receive their full pay.
But I don’t think anyone can justify a police officer continuing to collect his full salary 27 months after being suspended from his job.
This is especially true when extremely important disciplinary hearings are cancelled without any explanation from the RCMP hierarchy.
Goyal will continue to be innocent until proven guilty and he hasn’t been charged with anything, but you don’t get suspended from your duties as a police officer without justification.
And it should not have taken this long for a disciplinary hearing to take place.
There are several jurisdictions in Canada where senior management of police services are strongly considering implementing policies where officers who are suspended will not be paid when facing misconduct allegations.
What’s abundantly clear is the current system isn’t transparent and doesn’t allow members of the public or the media any access to vital information as to why officers continue to get paid more than two years after being forced from the job.
There has been no indication when the disciplinary hearing against Goyal will finally take place.
In theory, this could drag on for another two years and Goyal would collect another $200,000 in salary.
The system is broken and needs to be fixed.
When an officer is suspended with pay, the RCMP owes it to taxpayers and fellow officers who get tarnished by association to conduct investigations quickly, openly and transparently as quickly as possible.
I ask you this. If the disciplinary hearing deems Goyal was guilty of serious misconduct and he’s permanently relieved of his duties, is he going to pay back the $200,000 he’s put into his bank account since leaving the job?
We all know the answer to that question.
Keith Lacey is the editor of the Osoyoos Times.
