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Six months after the launch of a provincial police investigation into leaked audio recordings of his voice, the head of the Ottawa police union faces charges of breach of trust and obstruction of justice in a move that has shaken the local police force.

Ottawa Police Association president Matt Skof has been suspended by the police service, but his union members are rallying around him, maintaining that he has their full confidence.

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Skof was arrested Wednesday morning around 10:30 a.m. and charged by the Ontario Provincial Police.

Ottawa police called an emergency meeting of senior officers shortly after the arrest and by Wednesday afternoon announced that Skof, who was a patrol sergeant before he became union head, was suspended from the police force.

“As the matter is now before the courts, our service will have no further comment,” police said in a statement. Chief Charles Bordeleau did not return a request for comment from this newspaper.