Police sergeant demoted, docked pay for ‘inappropriate’ sexual comments to gay subordinates

An Edmonton Police Service cruiser. (Galen McDougall/CTV News Edmonton)

An Edmonton police officer has been demoted after he made sexual remarks to gay male colleagues under his command.

In a written decision released by the Edmonton Police Service on Thursday, five allegations that now-former sergeant Ken Smith made disparaging remarks on three dates in 2021 and 2022 to gay officers under his command were found “proven.” A sixth count was not.

Retired RCMP chief superintendent Fred Kamins, who presided over the hearings for Smith last year and authored the decision, determined he should be permanently demoted to the rank of constable as a result, a move that costs Smith about $14,000 in annual salary.

In two of the incidents, Kamins found Smith to have profanely told the officers he couldn’t work with them because one of them was gay and that there would be evidence of sexual activity in squad vehicles, saying on two occasions “the car would smell like butt sex,” or words to that effect, the written decision said.

In two others, Smith was found to have said he couldn’t work with two different officers unless they promised there “would not be any hanky panky in the car,” or something to that effect, according to the report.

The fifth proven allegation found Smith, a 22-year veteran of the EPS who spent the last six years as a sergeant, had pointed out three gay officers were sitting on one side of a parade table and remarked while pointing to the other side, “I guess this is the straight side of the table,” or words to that effect, then asked the three “enlightened” people to tell a story, the decision said.

Kamins wrote that while references praising Smith “paint(ed) a picture of a dedicated police officer, with several positive attributes and a history of community service ... they stand in stark contrast to what I saw before me.”

“While I recognize the significant contributions made by sergeant Smith and the examples of his good character, I am also left with a vivid picture of an insensitive supervisor, determined to avoid responsibility and accountability up to and including giving deceptive evidence,” Kamins said in the decision.

Those examples of Smith’s good character included his past efforts supporting the LGBTQ2S+ community in his police work, including efforts recognized by a Pride Award, but Kamins said the conduct in this incidents by Smith, a man of colour who had made a harassment claim before, make him unfit to be a supervisor.

“Frankly, the comments draw to mind one glaring question: what was he thinking making such totally inappropriate comments?” Kamins wrote. “To my mind, he was not thinking which, if possible, makes the comments even more serious, particularly when made by a supervisor to a subordinate.”

Smith was also “intentionally evasive” while answering questions during cross-examination, “or simply obtuse,” Kamins said.

Kamins pointed out what he believed to be an attempt by Smith to “intentionally mislead” him, referring to Smith trying to argue one of the incidents didn’t occur and offering data from his personal cell phone while giving testimony -- information he hadn’t before given to his lawyer, who withdrew from the case shortly after.

The sanction prevents Smith, who must “successfully complete harassment awareness training” to demonstrate his leadership suitability, from seeking promotion for two years.