A Waterloo Regional Police Service officer was found guilty of breach of trust in a Kitchener courtroom on Thursday.
Thirty-six-year-old Const. Craig Markham, a 10-year veteran of the force, admitted to providing confidential police information on a case to a member of the public.
In September 2011, while working at Central Division, he reportedly used a computer in the facility’s basement to access information about an overnight arrest connected to a drug case.
He also talked to the man being held in custody who was suspected of having ties to organized crime, including the Hell’s Angels.
Later, after apparently telling an acquaintance their friend had been arrested, he accessed the computer again.
Crown prosecutor David Foulds explains “And the second aspect was that Mr. Markham cut and pasted confidential information into an email to a citizen, which is the more serious element of this case.”
The Crown had asked for a custodial sentence, either a conditional release or time behind bars.
However, the judge agreed with the defence’s sentencing request and handed down a conditional discharge, meaning Markham will not have a criminal record.
Defence lawyer Pam Machado says Markham was a hard worker with a good reputation who showed a terrible lack of judgement.
“I couldn’t tell you what was going through his mind, but I can tell you police officers are human and they’re normal just like us and there are good days and there are bad days and this happened to be a bad day for him.”
But Foulds says “I’m disappointed at the outcome…the conduct at issue, which was moving of private, confidential police information outside the service, was conduct that required a conviction.”
The officer must still face a hearing under the Police Act and his attorney agrees his career with the force is at risk.
