A former West Vancouver Police officer says he was fired from the department as retaliation for filing harassment complaints against his supervisors.
But the police chief disagrees.
Todd Mosher was a West Vancouver police officer for 12 years until he was fired in 2011.
Mosher maintains he was fired because he was critical of practices at the police department, including favouritism for some officers and harassment of others.
Mosher said he had been doing a good job as a police officer, and had received praise in a number of internal evaluations and letters from the public — some of which were provided to the North Shore News.
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 around that time he was asked by one colleague, “What’s it like to have a target on your back?”
“It was clearly a case of a different set of rules for Todd Mosher,” he said.
Former West Vancouver police Chief Kash Heed described Mosher as someone who had the right character traits to be a good police officer but who sometimes rubbed people in the department the wrong way by questioning decisions.
“He is not a follower,” said Heed.
Mosher said when he was questioned about driving to North Vancouver in his police car to let his dog out for a bathroom break, 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; 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.
“They haven’t dealt with it,” he said.
West Vancouver Police Chief Peter Lepine disagrees with Mosher’s description of what happened. “He’s being very selective in terms of the information he’s providing,” said Lepine. Lepine said he brought in an outside investigator — Vince Ready — who spent two years looking into Mosher’s allegations before concluding no inappropriate actions had been taken. The Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner — which oversees internal discipline — reached the same conclusion, said Lepine.
Mosher said he’s not claiming to be an angel. “I’ve made mistakes in my career,” he said. But, he adds, “I’ve never done anything to warrant my firing.”
“I have never beaten anyone up... I’ve never driven drunk ...”
His union, he said, “didn’t help me much. .. If any of those guys stick their neck out for me they would have been the next example.”
Detective Tom Wolf von Gudenberg, president of the West Vancouver Police Association, says the union did provide support to Mosher. Wolf von Gudenberg said the union was satisfied due process was followed in the case.
Mosher said being fired from the police department has taken its toll on him. Ever since he was a little boy, he wanted to be a police officer, he said.
“It’s a rewarding career. They’ve taken that away from me. It’s affected me financially. I’ve lost friendships over it.”
Mosher said he’s glad to see issues of harassment within the department are now getting a public airing.
“I’m not the only one,” he said. “I’m the only one putting my name to it.”
