Chatham-Kent police officer fired over Christmas party misbehaviour
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A Chatham-Kent police officer who pleaded guilty to seven professional misconduct charges is being fired after four years of being suspended with pay.
During a discipline hearing on Jan. 20, hearing officer Greg Walton ordered that Const. Andrew Jaconelli be dismissed in seven days unless he resigns before then.
The seven discreditable conduct charges stem from incidents at the home of a co-worker during a Christmas party in November 2017.
According to an agreed statement of facts, a female co-worker was sexually assaulted when an intoxicated Jaconelli grabbed her buttocks. Jaconelli also held a dart to the neck of a female civilian employee during the same party and later threw another dart at a fellow officer.
The officer has been suspended with pay since December 2018. Ontario is the lone province where police officers can’t be suspended without pay – a policy that often results in lengthy, expensive discipline efforts that prove costly to taxpayers.
Jaconelli was found not guilty of two other charges of discreditable conduct resulting from allegations of sexual assault involving a fellow officer in October 2018.
Walton said he found dismissal was warranted due to the seriousness of Jaconelli’s misconduct.
“Const. Jaconelli demonstrated an utter lack of integrity, professionalism and common decency, attributes which are integral to the character of a police officer,” he said.
Walton added he also found a “reasonable person in the community would be offended” if Jaconelli remained employed with the local police department. “Having Const. Jaconelli maintain employment would further damage the reputation of the Chatham-Kent police service beyond repair.”
Walton said Jaconelli did not convince him there was any more than a “slight possibility” of rehabilitation, noting the officer “purposely suppressed” significant information relating to his personal life from his treating physician.
During sentencing submissions in the fall, Jaconelli only disclosed for the first time that he had a relapse with alcohol about a year prior. And during previous testimony, it was also revealed the officer didn’t tell his doctor, who he’d been seeing weekly, that he was facing charges.
Police Chief Gary Conn said Jaconelli has two options: Resign within seven days or appeal the decision to the Ontario Civilian Police Commission.
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