Toronto cop who used cocaine can keep job, says court

Undercover officer developed cocaine addiction after death of his father, wounding of fellow police officer

Robert Kelly, a Toronto police officer who was convicted of using cocaine, can keep his job, an Ontario court has ruled. As reported in the June 8, 2005, issue of Canadian Employment Law Today, Kelly, an undercover officer in the drug squad, started using cocaine. He was arrested in 2001 during a sting operation and charged criminally. He readily admitted he had a problem and said he had developed an addiction to cocaine after the death of his father and the wounding of an officer who was a close friend.

He pled guilty and was given a suspended sentence, placed on probation for two years and ordered to do 200 hours of community service. A police disciplinary hearing determined that Kelly should either resign within seven days or be fired. That decision was appealed by Kelly to the Ontario Civilian Commission on Police Services (OCCPS). The commission overturned the ruling and said Kelly could keep his job, but it outlined 14 conditions he had to meet, including periodic drug testing for the rest of his career.

The police service appealed that ruling to the Divisional Court of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. The court upheld his reinstatement.

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For more information, including the 14 conditions Kelly has to meet to keep his job, click here.

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