A news release sent out by the Timmins Police Association clarifies their stance on the withdrawing tickets situation.
President Luc Lamarche says the TPA is strongly disagreeing with online comments saying Constable Kevin Clement was in the wrong.
Clement issued the ticket to Gary Scripnick for running a red light. The TPA says they won’t comment on the Chief of Police, and his guilty plea.
Full Statement:
The Chief of Police’s decision to withdraw two provincial offence notices (tickets) that were issued by an officer with the Timmins Police Service to a then serving city councilor has certainly created quite a story in the City of Timmins.
The Timmins Police Association (TPA) has until now remained silent on this issue. In fairness to all those involved, the TPA will not comment directly on the incident or the recent guilty plea of the Chief of Police until all proceedings regarding the matter have concluded.
However, recent online posts have appeared to suggest that the officers involved in this incident did not exercise proper discretion in their dealings with this matter and the TPA strongly disagrees with those comments. The TPA fully supports the member who issued the tickets in question and the supportive actions taken by his supervisor.
The TPA is proud of the officers for having acted with the utmost professionalism from the onset of this incident and throughout the continued ordeal it has created.
Members of the TPA perform their duties both as police officers and civilians with pride and integrity every day and they have continued to display those characteristics throughout this process. Public safety and serving the members of our community has always been at the forefront of our priorities.
The Timmins Police Association represents both civilian and uniform members of the Timmins Police Service.
The mission of the Association is to unite fraternally and to promote the mutual interests of our members, uphold the honour of the police profession, encourage co-operative communication among police members, provide financial assistance in accordance with the bylaws of the Association and to elevate the standards of police services.