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CHATHAM — Paid to do nothing, a senior Chatham-Kent police officer has quit the force after costing taxpayers nearly $400,000 in pay for the more than three years that he was suspended from the job.

The departure of Sgt. Robert Mugridge, announced Wednesday, comes days before the 29-year veteran of the force is to face the sentencing music in court for fraud and is certain to renew calls for Ontario to hurry up legislation ending its distinction as the only province where officers facing serious charges cannot be suspended without pay. It also comes ahead of a disciplinary hearing where Mugridge faced almost certain termination from the Chatham-Kent force.

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“It happens all the time, all the time,” John Sewell, a former Toronto mayor and outspoken policing critic, said of officers facing serious allegations being kept on the payroll for years, only to quit before they’re disciplined.

“This is something that, in fact, police associations have used to help their members for many, many years,” Sewell said Wednesday.