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Co-workers became suspicious when the unit was called on July 5 to the scene of a fatal motorcycle-car collision. Turner told his colleagues he could not be the lead investigator on the case because he would soon be away from work.

Turner then sent texts and emails calling in sick to work as a result of what he said was his mother-in-law’s illness. The force was left to fill his absence by offering overtime or on-call pay to officers.

Turner was found out when another officer spotted him at the Ottawa airport boarding a flight to Halifax. Investigators also obtained photographs of Turner inside the airport and those of him in Halifax which were geotagged with his location.

Police prosecutor Insp. Mark Patterson called it “unacceptable” for an officer to call in sick to avoid his duties. Patterson told the hearing that Turner’s actions were a burden on his fellow officers, cost the force more money and put public safety at risk due to understaffing.

It also “fractured morale” in the collision investigation unit when his co-workers had to take up the slack due to what Patterson called Turner’s “unrelenting” pursuit to get time off.

Turner told police misconduct investigators that he “attended the jamboree for the good of the boy scouts” but didn’t immediately own up to his actions. Instead, he first questioned the validity of the evidence against him.

While Turner has a positive employment history with no previous discipline on record, Patterson said he should have known better as a 14-year veteran of the service.