Impugned cop back on active duty
Sgt. Jason Forward, 53, of Fredericton, had been accused of harassing ex-wife but prosecution withdrew criminal charge after he agreed to peace bond this summer
The Fredericton Police Force says an officer who’d been accused of stalking his former spouse last year is back on active duty, but it won’t say what, if any, disciplinary measures were taken.
Sgt. Jason Michael Forward, 53, of Fredericton, had been charged earlier this year with criminal harassment with respect to his former spouse in 2022, but the criminal case resolved in July with him agreeing to enter into a peace bond to be of good behaviour.
As a result, the Crown withdrew the criminal charge against him.
In agreeing to the peace bond, Forward acknowledged he had given his wife cause to be fearful for her safety.
The Fredericton Police Force (FPF) also instigated a Police Act complaint process against Forward as a result of the stalking allegations, but that process was placed on hold while the harassment case was making its way through provincial court.
When that process initially began, the force had placed Forward on administrative duty. He was not suspended.
With the conclusion of the court case, the Police Act complaint process would have restarted. The Fredericton Independent inquired with the police force about how far along that complaint process was and what Forward’s status was with the force.
“Sgt. Forward has returned to active duty,” police force spokesperson Sonya Gilks wrote in an email.
The Independent followed up with several questions, asking if the Police Act process had been resolved, if any disciplinary or corrective measures had been taken, if Forward maintained the same rank and if he had returned to his role as the officer in charge of one of force’s four patrol-division platoons and if any corrective or disciplinary measures had been taken with regard to him.
“We will not be commenting further on Sgt. Forward’s status within the FPF,” Gilks wrote.
“For any Police Act inquiries, I’d encourage you to contact the New Brunswick Police Commission.”
But the commission - which handles Police Act complaints against municipal police officers in the province - was even less forthcoming than the Fredericton Police Force, declining even to acknowledge a complaint had ever been lodged.
“ … We are not able to confirm whether a complaint has been filed with the New Brunswick Police Commission,” the provincial agency wrote in an email..
“The Police Act and RTIPPA (the Right to Information and Protection of Privacy Act) prohibit the commission from providing information about complaints unless they are referred to an arbitration hearing.”
The complaint against Forward never reached the arbitration stage, as it was never listed on the commission’s website.
Fredericton defence lawyer T.J. Burke, who represented Forward in the criminal case and frequently represents city police officers in Police Act complaints, declined to comment on Forward’s matter.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.
I love the Fredericton Independent for making sure all these jerks, predators, harassers and abusers are exposed to the public one extra time.
As usual. Fredericton police force has as many wrong doers as the public they pretend to care about. Not saying all cops are bad. Just saying that the whole force is only as good as their weakest link, and would a regular citizen have received the same treatment. How can you uphold the law when you can’t abide by it yourself.