Ottawa police officer guilty of discreditable conduct after off-duty fight with teens

The sign outside Ottawa Police headquarters on Elgin St. is seen in winter. (CTV News Ottawa)

An Ottawa police constable has been found guilty of discreditable conduct under the Police Services Act after getting into a fight with teenagers while off-duty in 2021.

According to a decision by retired superintendent Chris Renwick, Pierre Fournier is guilty of discreditable conduct by placing himself on-duty while off work and on leave and engaging in a physical and verbal altercation with young persons in an unprofessional manner.

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The document, posted on the Ottawa Police Service's website, says the case involved an incident at the Osgoode sand and gravel pit on April 24, 2021, while Fournier and his brother were on the way to go hunting in the area. Fournier noticed the teenagers riding motocross bikes near the gravel pit and went to confront them. According to defence submissions, Fournier was aware of recurring incidents of trespassing in the area and believed that "no one was doing the right thing to address the taunting of the property owners and the risk of litigation from accident or injury."

When Fournier approached the teens, all but one of them rode away while two of them gave him the finger. Fournier then ran up the hill and put his hand on the bike or shoulder of one boy, who was 15 at the time, and said, "You're not going anywhere," and ordered the other teens to return. The confrontation escalated to profane language and a physical altercation, at which point Fournier called 9-1-1.

However, he was off work because of a work-related injury and was undergoing therapy for mental stress at the time. The defence said he approached the youths "as a concerned citizen," but the finding says he identified himself as a police officer during the incident. Renwick declared that restraining the teen was effectively detaining him, which constituted a violation of the teen's Charter rights.

Renwick writes, "The only rational conclusion to be drawn is that Cst. Fournier had entered into an investigation for the trespassing offence and was frustrated by the lack of co-operation by the youths and his inability to identify anyone due to their helmets and goggles and the absence of number plates on the bikes. Whether it was his intention to reason with them or to issue them warnings, his actions that day did amount to police actions, thus placing himself on-duty to exercise his authority as a police officer. With this, there is an obligation for him to make notes, complete an investigative action report, and to conduct himself to the standard required and demanded as a member of the [Ottawa Police Service]."

Renwick said Fournier, being off duty and on leave, should have considered himself a witness and reported the actions of the teens to police for follow-up.

Fournier represented himself in the hearing and was assisted by Ottawa police Const. Cedric Nizman on the last two days of the five hearing dates.

Sentencing will occur at a later date.

The Ottawa Police Association declined to comment on the ruling because Fournier was representing himself. President Matthew Cox said, however, that the Ottawa Police Association would "continue to support Const. Fournier as he awaits the penalty portion of the proceeding."

Fournier was suspended from duty, with pay, in June of 2021 after being charged with assault in connection with the incident, but those charges have since been withdrawn.

His current status on the force is unknown. The Ottawa Police Service declined to comment, saying the matter is ongoing.