A Durham Region police deputy chief will retire after the police board said Monday that an investigation by a watchdog agency found he committed misconduct by using a "racially inappropriate" term. A Deputy Chief with the Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS) has retired after an investigation into his alleged use of the N-word at a meeting of the Afro-Caribbean Canadian Internal Support Network last February. The probe by the Law Enforcement Complaints Agency (LECA) concluded that Deputy Chief Chris Kirkpatrick’s actions “constituted misconduct under the Community Safety and Policing Act,” a Durham police release stated.
“After a thorough investigation by the Law Enforcement Complaints Agency (LECA) and careful review and deliberation, the Durham Regional Police Service Board and Deputy Chief Chris Kirkpatrick have agreed that their employment relationship be concluded,” the release adds. “Deputy Chief Kirkpatrick will not be returning to the workplace and is retiring from the Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS).” Kirkpatrick was suspended with pay while the investigation unfolded. Deputy Mayor Sterling Lee, however, said in a letter posted to X that Deputy Chief Kirkpatrick used the N-word.
“Let’s be precise, because precision matters here,” he wrote. “This was not a generalized act of racial insensitivity. Deputy Chief Chris Kirkpatrick, a 29-year veteran, had been suspended with pay since late February.
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