‘Regrettable’: Winnipeg officer apologizes for taking photo of body, selling drugs

The sentencing hearing for a police officer who pleaded guilty to drug trafficking got underway in a Winnipeg court. CTV’s Joseph Bernacki reports.

WINNIPEG — A former Winnipeg police officer who sold drugs to friends and colleagues and took a photo of a dead woman while on duty apologized for “tarnishing” the reputation of the service at his sentencing hearing Tuesday.

Elston Bostock, 49, earlier pleaded guilty to charges including breach of trust, attempting to obstruct justice, drug trafficking and offering an indignity to human remains.

Court heard he was responding to a call when he took a photo of the partially clothed woman of Indigenous ancestry, who had died from an overdose, and sent it to two other officers with comments that sexualized and degraded her.

“I’d like to deeply apologize to the family and the victim for the hurt and pain I have caused with my most regrettable action,” Bostock told the hearing.

He said not a day has gone by in the months he’s been in custody that he hasn’t felt regret, “nor will there be a day that I don’t think of what I’ve done.”

The former constable, who had been with the force for 22 years, said his actions have tainted how the public views police and apologized to the force.

Court of King’s Bench Justice Kenneth Champagne is to sentence Bostock at a later date. The Crown asked for seven years in prison while the defence recommended about two years.

Bostock was arrested in November 2024 along with two other officers. More charges were added last August and a fourth officer was also arrested. He was removed from the job late last year.

The service’s professional standards unit started a lengthy investigation after other officers came forward with concerns.

The internal probe included audits, analysis of GPS data, surveillance by RCMP and the searching of Bostock’s cellphone. There was also a staged event in which Bostock seized a backpack with narcotics, cash and cigarettes that belonged to an alleged criminal.

Court heard surveillance cameras were installed in Bostock’s cruiser without his knowledge. Videos show both Bostock and another officer rifling through the bag and taking cash and cigarettes. They eventually returned the items and some cash after suspecting it was an “integrity test.”

The Crown said Bostock also used his knowledge as an officer to get traffic tickets dismissed and to look up police information for friends, as well as steal drugs from crime scenes for personal use.

“Bostock repeatedly engaged in criminal conduct over a prolonged period, some eight years. Bostock not only breached his core duties of honesty and integrity, but actively undermined investigations, corrupted colleagues and eroded building confidence in the administration of justice,” said prosecutor Ari Millo.

“Elston Bostock’s actions have caused reputational damage to the (Winnipeg Police Service) on a scale rarely if ever seen in the history of the service.”

Police found 22 instances where Bostock tried to prevent traffic tickets for friends and acquaintances from being processed by bribing other officers with liquor, cigars and gift certificates. Court heard Bostock was successful 12 times.

In 2022, Bostock and another officer were asked to secure a scene while police obtained a search warrant. Millo said Bostock stole cannabis from the suite and later, in grooming behaviour," told a junior constable about the theft.

“(That conversation) forms part of the broader pattern of Bostock corrupting fellow officers,” said the prosecutor.

A review of Bostock’s cellphone also revealed six times that he gave personal information pulled from police databases to friends or acquaintances.

Court also heard Bostock sold cocaine, ecstasy, psilocybin and various prescription drugs to friends and colleagues as part of a “social enterprise.”

Millo told the judge that he was unable to find any precedent in Canada where a police officer was charged with offering an indignity to human remains, saying Bostock appears to “hold the unenviable distinction of being the only police officer to ever defile his badge in that way.”

The woman’s daughter, in a victim’s impact statement read in court by Millo, said she continues to feel pain after learning about what Bostock did.

“My mom was a good person and she deserved to be treated kindly even after she passed away. Thinking about what happened makes my heart hurt more. Because of this I don’t trust the police anymore,” she said.

The Crown asked for six years for the various charges, while a federal prosecutor argued for an additional year for drug trafficking.

Bostock’s lawyer asked that he serve two years plus a short consecutive sentence for the drug charge.

“There’s no question that the use of alcohol and drugs played an important role in Elston’s downfall,” said Richard Wolson.

“There were many years of good service. There were many years where Elston performed well as a police officer. He joined the service thinking he could make a difference and did that for many years.”

Bostock was granted the Governor General’s Police Exemplary Service Award in 2024, and it was revoked last year. Wolson said Bolstock also gave the graduation speech when he left the police academy.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 13, 2026.

Brittany Hobson, The Canadian Press