No grounds for obstruction charge against Cape Breton police officer: SIRT

HALIFAX -- Nova Scotia's police watchdog says an investigation into a possible obstruction of justice in 2014 involving a member of Cape Breton Regional Police has found no reasonable grounds to lay a charge.

The Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) says it was contacted in October by police concerned that the officer may have either provided false information knowing it would be used in a request for a search warrant, or that he may have mishandled a drug exhibit.

The investigation found another officer was preparing an affidavit in an attempt to obtain a search warrant for a "particular target" that included information from the subject officer about his seizure of a large quantity of drugs from the same target several months earlier.

However, SIRT says a review of files by police found no record of a seizure.

After gathering statements from the search target and the subject officer, SIRT says it concluded there was no evidence of any drugs seized in the earlier search and the details recorded by the officer writing the affidavit appeared to contain errors.

SIRT says the most likely conclusion from the facts is that the officer who prepared the affidavit misunderstood what was told to him by the subject officer.