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Saskatoon police chief Troy Cooper is standing by a decision to fire a constable who was recently cleared of criminal assault charges.
Jarrett Gelowitz was fired months after he was charged with three counts of assault related to alleged excessive force in the course of arrests.
One of those charges was dropped and another was stayed.
Gelowitz was found not guilty of the third charge by a Court of Queen’s Bench judge last week, when Justice Richard Danyliuk ruled knees delivered to the head of a suspect in a December 2016 arrest were “necessary force” to gain compliance.
Cooper told 650 CKOM’s John Gormley on Thursday that the Saskatoon Police Service is reviewing the judge’s ruling in relation to Gelowitz’s dismissal, but noted the firing had to do with more than the charges.
“We did know a little bit more than that, of course, he’s our officer,” Cooper said. “This is something where we made the decision based on what we knew at the time.”
The police chief has repeatedly noted the dismissal was partly due to a “suitability for service” assessment.
He noted that can be cause for termination under the provincial Police Act, in addition to Criminal Code convictions.
However, the Saskatoon Police Association maintains that Cooper could have suspended Gelowitz with pay until the criminal charges were dealt with in court.
But Cooper said the police service still has to clear up other issues before Gelowitz could potentially get his job back.
“There’s still other things outstanding that we have to make sure to address before we can move in any direction,” Cooper said.
Attention will turn to a Police Act hearing on Sept. 16, when Gelowitz and the police association will argue in favour of his reinstatement.
