CALGARY -- A Lethbridge police officer has been suspended with pay for alleged improper database searches and the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) is now investigating.
Lethbridge Police Service has also ordered an internal professional misconduct investigation under the Police Service Regulation
Officials say the search happened Feb. 5, though the nature of the search hasn't been disclosed.
"Improper access of such information is taken very seriously by the Lethbridge Police Service," reads a release.
"It was identified as an issue which needed to be addressed, and measures to prevent improper access of information were included in the action plan submitted to the Minister of Justice on April 13."
Justice Minister Kaycee Madu had given Lethbridge police Chief Shahin Mehdizadeh until April 13 to submit a plan addressing what he called "serious concerns" around both the public's, and his own, confidence in the force following a number of high profile incidents, including the alleged stalking of Lethbridge-West MLA Shannon Phillips by Lethbridge police officers, which is currently being investigated by ASIRT.
A disciplinary hearing for five officers who are currently suspended with pay is also set to begin Tuesday, which is separate from the ASIRT inquiry.
