REGINA — Police Chief Lorilee Davies is pledging several changes to rebuild trust in the Regina Police Service in the wake of the sentencing of former police officer Robert Semenchuck.
“As Chief of Police, you have my commitment that we will do the hard work, work that results in the rebuilding of community trust,” Davies said. “We will not get it right every time, but we will not shy away from the task. It’s not going to be easy and it shouldn’t be. Earned trust is the only trust that matters.”
Semenchuck received a two-year conditional sentence in Regina provincial court on Friday on charges of breaching trust and using a computer for unauthorized purposes. The counts are in connection to instances over a period of eight years where Semenchuck accessed the Regina police database to contact 33 women.
Semenchuck had been suspended and later resigned from the force following the criminal charges. This sentencing follows last year’s report from the Saskatchewan Information and Privacy Commissioner into another Regina Police Service member, Const. Clinton Duquette, who had also accessed a police database for non-work purposes.
At a media conference Friday, Davies told reporters the Regina Police Service had accepted eight of the nine recommendations brought forward by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner, which came following the Duquette investigation.
Those recommendations include RPS informing the remaining affected individuals of their right of access to choose to submit a formal access to information request to RPS for a summary of the dates and times police officers searched their personal information; that the officer will be subject to ongoing random audits of his access; that RPS install a feature that requires members to provide a reason with sufficient particularity when conducting queries; that RPS conduct random audits of queries by members; and implement a protocol for conducting audits of an employee’s access to personal information in cases where there is evidence or reason to suspect an employee has made an unauthorized access; and to commit to a zero-tolerance policy for accessing personal information, among others.
Going forward, Davies pledged that disciplinary actions would better meet public expectations.
“I think we’ve heard from the other investigation that the public expectation in that instance was beyond a one-day suspension. I have given notice to all of our employees that any future instances of privacy breach will be dealt with more severely and they can expect more severe punishment. So I can’t say exactly what that might look like. Every case does need to be dealt with on an individual basis, but I hear what the community is saying.”
As for what the bar would be for a permanent revocation of access to this kind of information, Davies said that would be if dismissal were being considered.
“So, like I said, each case has to be on its own merits. Obviously, you know, the Semenchuck case was a case that I would be considered would be fit for dismissal.”
Davies was not able to say how often audits of officers using the system would occur.
“Within our Access and Privacy Unit, they, every month, do random audits of, you know, file numbers. As mentioned, we’ll be starting individual random person’s name, check their files. People that are subject to discipline, obviously, in my expectation is that’s done more frequently.”
As for whether the Regina Police Service is doing enough going forward, Davies replied: “Yeah, you know, I do hear that. I feel that.”
“You know, in terms of our records management system, I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to implement, you know, sort of more fulsome explanation as to why people or officers or employees are searching someone. As I said, that functionality doesn’t currently exist, but that’s something that I’m hopeful we’ll be able to install. And so, you know, that piece in right there, if you need to put in a file number as to why you’re accessing that information, I mean, I think that that is another higher level of accountability for our members. You know, our training is ongoing. Yeah, I am committed to doing better and, you know, looking at any possibility in terms of what that might look like. So whether it’s systems, whether it’s training, and, you know, I think deterrence in cases going forward, you know, I think that that will be another factor that plays into it. Knowing that there will be significant penalties attached if there was another incident.”
As for her thoughts on the incidents involving Semenchuck, Davies said: “You know, it’s awful that this happened under our watch, that he was a member of our police service, that he took advantage of our systems, took advantage, you know, of what he knew he could get away with, essentially.
“So, you know, for me, that’s awful that that happened here. But I can’t apologize for his failure of morality. That’s on him.”
“You know, he is one employee of the service who took advantage of his authority. And, you know, I think it’s hard to, you know, apologize for all the other members who are doing good work, who are abiding by their oath, who understand the trust that the community places in us. And I don’t want to paint all of them with the same brush.”
Davies acknowledged the process of rebuilding trust would be a long one.
“It’s one interaction at a time. It’s like I said, it takes thousands of positive interactions to rebuild that trust. And so my commitment is that we’re going to do that hard work every day. It’s getting out in the community. It’s ensuring that all of our employees are armed with the best information in terms of what respectful professional service looks like. And it’s going to be a long process.”
As for the message the sentencing sent to members, Davies believes what happened is enough of a message.
“Absolutely. I mean, I think the fact that there were criminal charges is enough. The fact that he was suspended from work is enough, should be enough. Obviously, we respect the decision of the Honourable Court. But, you know, I think for all members, they’re happy to have this behind us. Because they don’t want to be painted with that same brush.
“And so we’re happy that it’s concluded and done with. And we’re hopeful that the victims, our members, our service can move forward.”
On the conditional sentence imposed, when asked if that was the right penalty, Davies said she respected the decision of the court.
As for how Semenchuck was able to get away with his actions for as long as he did, Davies noted that their “access and privacy audits weren’t in place back then. That’s something that’s recent.”
“You know, he clearly had a plan. He was very sneaky about it. Our professional standards investigators spent hundreds and hundreds of hours going through detailed information about how those accesses were made. And so, you know, it’s not an excuse, but he was very clever in the way that he tried to conceal his crimes. And so, you know, obviously, we learned from that in terms of our systems and our auditing. But, yeah, it’s obviously a problem that, you know, he was able to carry that out for so long.”
