Sergeant admits to making unwanted, inappropriate comments and physical contact toward female coworkers
A police officer in Windsor, Ont. has been demoted after pleading guilty to two charges under the Police Services Act.
Sgt. Steve Gawadzyn, a 21-year veteran of Windsor police, admitted that, between April 2020 and February 2023, he engaged in "vexatious conduct" against lower ranking female Windsor police employees, according to a CBC report that cited an agreed statement of facts.
Gawadzyn admitted that he made unwanted, inappropriate comments regarding their appearance, including on social media and via text message. He also made physical contact toward female coworkers.
The 43-year-old surprised women at work with unwanted food and drinks, attempted to socialize with them outside of work and asked subordinate female employees during work to meet him for reasons unrelated to policing, said the CBC.
The officer also admitted to making unauthorized searches using three law enforcement databases to search his name and the names of his spouse, friends, family members, Windsor police employees, their spouses and former Windsor police employees, according to the report.
"The public holds the police in a high trust and accountability. The unauthorized use of police databases erodes public trust," said Alex Sinclair, who represented the Windsor Police Service during the hearing, in the CBC article.
Previously, four female officers with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) in British Columbia are alleging a toxic workplace culture at the service, where sexual harassment and more are rampant.
Gawadzyn is guilty on both counts of discreditable conduct, the hearing officer found.
Effective immediately, Gawadzyn has been demoted to fourth-class constable, said the CBC. He will not automatically regain his sergeant status. He will have to spend one year in each of the constable ranks before he elevates to the first-class constable rank.
Gawadzyn must also take harassment training within three months.
A majority of Toronto police employees have experienced or witnessed workplace harassment, according to a previous report.
Changing cultures at police organizations to better protect female employees will likely be a “very hard and long process,” but “that doesn’t mean that it’s not occurring,” said law professor Sylvia Rich with the University of Ottawa in a previous Global News report.
“It’s extremely hard to shine a light on the internal workings of policing or military or paramilitary organizations. They are secretive,” she said. “It makes it even clearer that there may need to be some real deep reckoning in order to fix this problem.”
