Kingston Police Deputy Chief Matt Funnell has been suspended from his function with the service, in line with the chair of town’s police board.
Nonetheless, few particulars have been shared about what led as much as the state of affairs, first reported by The Kingston Whig-Customary. Funnell was simply promoted to the place in September.
“All I can say is that he is been suspended with pay,” stated Jarrod Stearns, chair of the Kingston Police Companies Board (KPSB), throughout a cellphone interview with CBC on Monday afternoon.
Stearns stated the matter is “confidential” as a result of it is ongoing. He wouldn’t touch upon when the suspension started, nor whether or not the matter concerned charges below both the Police Companies Act or the Felony Code.
“We’ll launch the result as soon as it is completed,” stated Stearns, including he has “no thought” when that shall be.
A spokesperson for the Particular Investigation’s Unit, which probes incidents involving police that end in severe damage, dying or allegations of sexual assault, stated it is by no means concerned within the matter.
A consultant for Kingston Police directed inquiries concerning the suspension to the board.
CBC tried to contact Funnell via his police e-mail tackle on Monday afternoon, however didn’t instantly obtain a response.
Police affiliation requires transparency
Mark Baxter, president of the Ontario Police Affiliation, criticized the dearth of public details about Funnell’s suspension.
“The place is the transparency?” he requested in a social media put up, including that when a rank-and-file member of the pressure is suspended police management is “fast to inform the general public,” however when it is a “Deputy Chief, each is silent?”
“The Kingston Police Companies Board must launch data,” Baxter concluded.
Stearns stated Funnell’s place didn’t have any bearing on how the state of affairs has been dealt with.
“It does not matter if it is senior administration or somebody simply beginning out as a profession,” stated the KPSB chair. “When there’s any form of investigation occurring it is confidential.”
A profile offered by the police service when Funnell’s promotion to deputy chief was introduced stated he had been an officer in Kingston since 2001.
In a media launch on the time, Stearns was quoted as saying the police board was “pleased” to advertise from inside the service’s ranks, and described Funnell as having “huge expertise with the group.”
Funnell is from jap Ontario, graduating from Ganaoque Secondary College earlier than starting his policing profession in Carleton Place in 1996, in line with a biography posted on-line by Kingston Police.
Then appearing deputy chief Matt Funnell, left, speaks throughout a Kingston Police Companies Board assembly on Oct. 19, 2023. (Dan Taekema/CBC)
It states his profession in Kingston concerned work as a front-line patrol officer, plus stints within the normal investigations and main crime models. He was additionally a founding member of the Kingston Police chilly case investigations unit in 2005.
Funnell’s biography provides he frolicked as a sergeant and workers sergeant earlier than being promoted to inspector in 2021, when he oversaw models together with skilled requirements and investigative providers.
