(JOHN MCDONALD / iNFOnews.ca)
January 17, 2021 – 10:00 a.m.
An RCMP officer from Kelowna was docked and transferred for 15 days after pointing his gun at a female colleague.
On March 6, 2019 at around 3 a.m. Const. Kristine Roesler, an RCMP officer in Kelowna’s division, was at her desk writing a “stressful” report when she was approached by her associate Const. Kevin Hess. At this point, Hess started teasing her about her job, according to a ruling of the RCMP Code of Conduct dated July 27, 2020.
Const. Roesler asked him to stop and told him to “run away”. When he continued to tease her, she got up, took her gun from its holster, and pointed it at Hess according to the records.
“After a few moments, she put the gun back in its holster and Hess made comments about the size of her gun and her skills,” said the decision-making documents.
In his testimony, Hess recalled the gun pointing at him and looking at the circle of the barrel. Const. Roesler said she did not point the gun directly at Hess and held the gun “safely without her finger on the trigger and at waist level”.
Const. Roesler said, “She was not angry and that her act was done in the spirit of ‘dark humor’,” but Inspector Colin Miller, who issued the Code of Conduct decision, said otherwise.
“A small mistake on your part could have seriously injured Const. Hess or another member who may have been in the bullpen area, ”Miller wrote.
“In handling her gun the way she did after being upset and potentially endangering other members of the department, Const. Roesler’s behavior was a significant departure from the standard expected by a member of the RCMP. ”
Miller wrote that Const. Roesler is repentant and has written an apology letter to Const. Hess, her staff in attendance, the members of the Kelowna Detachment, the Conduct Authority, the Conduct Board, the RCMP as a whole, and the Kelowna community.
She has received no prior discipline and has had significant personal stresses in her life at the time, including the breakup of her marriage, financial concerns, distance from her family, and the start of a new career.
She has also sought psychological treatment and has positive performance reviews, good reference letters and cooperated with the internal investigation.
In addition to deducting Roesler’s pay, the behavioral authority had her transferred to another job to work under a manager and receive additional advice.
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