Justice and Public Safety
June 1, 2017

External Review of RNC Officers’ Conduct Concluded

An external review into the alleged criminal conduct of two RNC officers responsible for overseeing an organized crime investigation has determined that the officers were not involved in criminal conduct and that no grounds exist for charges.

Ronald MacDonald, Director of Nova Scotia’s Serious Incident Response Team, led the 18-month investigation into the two officers’ conduct after allegations were made that actions of the senior officers amounted to an obstruction of justice.

It was alleged that those senior officials improperly directed front line officers not to arrest, investigate, or charge an individual who was seen as important to the RNC investigation.

The report indicates that directions given by the RNC officers in question were done so in good faith and that the officers believed their conduct would assist in solving serious crimes.

The Department of Justice and Public Safety thanks the Nova Scotia Serious Incident Response Team for its work on this investigation. The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador is committed to introducing legislation to implement its own civilian oversight team for police incidents in fall 2017.

Quotes
“I’d like to thank Ronald MacDonald for this thorough investigation. As a government, we need to ensure the safety of the public and our officers, while also taking necessary steps to put proper oversight in place to maintain public confidence in the administration of justice. We take civilian oversight seriously and are committed to establishing a serious incident response team for the province.”
Honourable Andrew Parsons
Minister of Justice and Public Safety and Attorney General

“In these circumstances, those decisions were made in an effort to solve much more serious organized criminal activity. Their decisions fell within the appropriate range of reasonableness, and in any event, were made in good faith for the purpose of solving serious crimes. Overall they were in the public interest.”
Ronald MacDonald, QC
Director of Nova Scotia’s Serious Incident Response Team

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Learn more

Nova Scotia Serious Incident Response Team Report on Royal Newfoundland Constabulary www.justice.gov.nl.ca/just/publications/pdf/SiRT_Report_June_1_2017.pdf PDF

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Media contacts
Lesley Clarke
Justice and Public Safety
709-729-6985, 699-2910
LesleyClarke@gov.nl.ca

Ron MacDonald, QC
Nova Scotia’s Serious Incident Response Team
902-424-8400, 902-718-9707
Ronald.J.MacDonald@novascotia.ca

2017 06 01                              2:40 p.m.