Surrey Police Service officer caught driving while impaired, review ordered
Posted August 30, 2023 8:53 pm.
Last Updated August 30, 2023 8:55 pm.
A review has been ordered against a Surrey Police Service (SPS) officer after being caught driving while impaired.
B.C.’s Police Complaint Commissioner says Const. Rajbir Thaper failed a breath test in August 2022 after being pulled over by a Delta Police Department (DPD) officer in Delta.
“The DPD investigating member noted an odour of liquor on [Thaber’s] breath and glossy eyes, and the [Thaber] stated that he had consumed one beer an hour and a half prior to the stop,” Commissioner Clayton Pecknold noted in his review.
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Thaper was off duty at the time and Pecknold says he made it clear that he was an SPS officer and asked to be let off with a warning — allegedly saying the failed test would “ruin his life.”
Regardless, he was served an immediate 90-day driving ban and his vehicle was impounded for 30 days.
Pecknold ordered the SPS to investigate Thaper’s conduct, and it recommended he receive an unpaid five-day suspension, a written reprimand, and an additional three-day suspension for seeking preferential treatment.
Pecknold found the force’s suggested discipline didn’t meet the severity of the Thaber’s conduct.
“The Discipline Authority failed to consider [Thaber’s] own knowledge of the serious implications of impaired driving given [Thaber’s] certification as a Field Sobriety Test Operator,” he stated.
“Attempting to use one’s privileged position as a police officer to seek preferential treatment is a serious affront to the public trust.”
As a result of his findings, Pecknold appointed former BC Supreme Court Judge Elizabeth Arnold-Bailey as the adjudicator in charge of Thaber’s review.
