A former West Vancouver police officer who was fired in 2011 after 12 years on the job is taking his fight to the courts.
Todd Mosher says he was fired from the department as retaliation for filing harassment complaints against his supervisors and being critical of practices that included favouritism for some officers.
The West Vancouver Police Department has denied that.
Now the former officer is asking a judge to approve criminal charges against three people — including one retired police officer and two current members of the West Vancouver Police Department — in an attempt to clear his name.
In an unusual move, Mosher has launched a private prosecution, alleging the circumstances around his firing have never been properly heard because members of the force covered them up.
Mosher said he had been doing a good job as a police officer for nearly a decade, and had received praise in a number of internal evaluations and letters from the public.
But starting around 2009, “I would show up for work and the reports I was writing weren’t good enough anymore,” he said.
He said he was targeted by senior officers at the department.
“It was clearly a case of a different set of rules for Todd Mosher,” he said.
Mosher said when he was questioned he asked superiors why they weren’t investigating another West Vancouver police officer who Mosher alleged was having sex on-duty.
The other officer denied the on-the-clock trysts and Mosher was told he was guilty of deceitful action.
Mosher said after his firing, he appealed to both the West Vancouver Police Board and Office of Police Complaints Commissioner about how he was treated — but that his complaints fell on deaf ears.
Both an outside investigator brought in to review the case — veteran mediator Vince Ready — and the Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner reviewed the case and concluded superior officers didn't retaliate against Mosher because of his harassment complaints.
But Mosher maintains none of those people got the real story because those involved didn’t tell the truth.
“When you tell a little lie and you continue to tell lies, it’s messy and nobody wants to deal with it and that’s the problem,” he said outside court on Wednesday.
The earlier investigations only looked at the issue from a very narrow perspective, he added.
Mosher said he went to court because “I’ve tried to engage the West Vancouver Police Department in conversation about this and I’ve not had any success.”
Last year, both Mosher and other police officers in West Vancouver levelled allegations of harassment at the department.
A survey of West Vancouver Police Department employees also showed widespread dissatisfaction within the department.
Shortly after that study was made public, and West Vancouver Police Board Chair Michael Smith vowed to get to the bottom of the situation, two long-term members of the senior management team retired and the then-police chief chose not to renew his contract.
It will be up to a judge to determine if Mosher has enough information to warrant criminal charges being sworn against anyone.
Private prosecutions are relatively rare in the criminal court system.
On Wednesday, several members of the media including the North Shore News appeared in North Vancouver provincial court to ask that the hearing involving Mosher’s allegations be open to the public.
But North Vancouver provincial court Judge Bryce Dyer rejected that, saying the hearing must be held behind closed doors to protect the reputations of people who have not been charged with any offence.
“We all of us only get one reputation,” the judge said.
Outside court Wednesday Mosher said he’d accept whatever the judge decides but that it is important to him to see the issue through.
“As police officers we were told that we need to be accountable. Nobody’s been accountable in the circumstances at all.”
In a statement published on its website, the West Vancouver Police Department said the department is aware of Mosher’s attempts to file a private prosecution.
The department said it will not comment on the court proceeding but added “allegations made previously by this individual have been extensively and independently reviewed and found not substantiated.”
Note: This story has been modified since first posted.
