Michel El-Khoury and Simon Jetté disciplined for Lachute doctor arrest
Two provincial police officers have been punished for arresting a Lachute doctor who refused to release confidential patient information to police in March 2012.
The Police Ethics Committee ruled in September that Sgt. Michel El-Khoury and Const. Simon Jetté breached ethical standards when they arrested Dr. Jeffrey Sirzyk in the Lachute Hospital.
At the time, Sirzyk refused to give police information about an injured baby without a warrant.
Police suspected the child had been abused and asked Sirzyk for information relating to the child’s injuries. Officers were told to open a file with Quebec's youth protection (known by its French acronym, the DPJ), but didn’t.
Instead, El-Khoury “became angry and aggressive,” according to the ethics committee's findings.
El-Khoury was suspended for five days without pay, and Jetté was suspended for two days with pay.
Ethics committee said officers used poor judgment
Sirzyk resigned from his job, citing stress after the ordeal.
The ethics committee found the police officers showed an "unacceptable ignorance” of the rules on the confidentiality of medical information, demonstrated poor judgment, and acted hastily in arresting the doctor.
It said their use of force was unwarranted.
