Ottawa police officer found guilty of discreditable conduct in relation to meme

Errors in this article have been corrected. Constable James Ramsay's actions were not found to be racist in the disciplinary hearing. He was punished for discrediting the image of the police service by circulating a meme which was seen by 13 officers.

An Ottawa police officer who was accused of creating and passing around a meme in May of 2020 has been found guilty.

On April 27, 2020, The Ottawa Police Service's Professional Standards Section was alerted to a meme circulating throughout the organization. On that same day, a chief’s complaint was initiated and an investigation was launched to locate the creator. The investigation involved 82 interviews with sworn civilian members, as well as with members of the public.

As a result of the investigation, two memes were discovered; one of which featured a Ottawa police officers of all races and featured the caption, “Ottawa Police Service – We’re always hiring…anyone.”

One officer, identified as Constable James Ramsey, pleaded guilty and has been found guilty of discreditable conduct and insubordination under the Police Services Act, in relation to one of the memes. The one he admits to distributing showed 11 Ottawa police officers, of all races, who had been disciplined or resigned. Cnst. Ramsey said he shared it with five fellow officers and it eventually reached 13 officers.

A second meme was distributed to a much wider audience of over 500, but the person who distributed that meme has not been identified.

Cnst. Ramsey has been demoted in rank from First Class Constable to Second Class Constable for nine months, and is required to participate in a restorative justice process.

“The seriousness of the offence is, of course, the primary consideration. In this particular case, the actions of Police Constable Ramsey were clearly inappropriate and an embarrassment to the Ottawa Police Service,” Retired Dep. Chief York Region Police Terence Kelly said in his February ruling.

“Professionalism and integrity cannot be compromised. The public is entitled to have high expectations of a police service and its members. To retain this trust and confidence, they must be professional and ethical in everything they do.”

On May 4, 2020, Cnst. Ramsey attended an interview with PPS, where he admitted to creating the first version of the meme on or about April 24, 2020.

“Constable Ramsey maintained that his intent in creating the meme (Version 1) was not to marginalize racialized members of the OPS,” the ruling detailed. “He stated, rather, that the meme was reflective of his frustration with the amount of officers being disciplined recently within the organization. Constable Ramsey stated that he selected the 11 officers for the meme by conducting an Internet search for ‘Ottawa Police Charged.'”

Ramsey further stated that he did not want to be labelled as a racist as a result of the media attention associated with the meme.

He apologized for his actions and admitted creating and sharing the meme was a mistake.

“He stated that he did not expect the meme to spread throughout the organization and was unaware as to who created Version 2 of the meme,” the ruling detailed. “If not for the guilty plea, which I take into account as a mitigating factor and recognition of his conduct, I would consider a greater penalty.”

In his ruling, Kelly explained that an officer’s conduct ought to set an example for the community to follow.

“The police officer is the person most responsible for initially setting the wheels of the administration of justice in motion and, therefore, the public cannot be expected to respect the law if it does not respect, and believe in, the dedication and integrity of the Police Service.”

Officers must conduct themselves in such a way as to avoid discrediting or compromising the image of their service, he added — even when off duty.

“Anything short of this will be seen as a contradiction and serve no other purpose but to undermine the efforts of all police officers and the explicit goals of the Service.”

Kelly goes on to say that given all the information regarding Ramsey’s career profile and letters of support from the community — past and present members of the OPS — he’s left with the “distinct impression” that Ramsey is a “fine, capable and decent officer who is actively engaged in the community in which he serves.”

Read the full details of the ruling, and the reason behind the ruling, here.