The Quebec City police union said suspended members never visited any pornographic websites while they were working but they did share racy images and off-colour jokes, and that the top brass knew what was going on.
Police union president Jean Beaudoin says warnings should have been issued before supensions, (CBC)
Jean Beaudoin, who speaks for the police brotherhood, said it "was common practice inside police walls," and even though he agrees sharing "pornographic images should not be tolerated, it was by the officers at the Quebec City police department."
He said warnings should have been issued before supensions, and that the police brotherhood will appeal the sanctions even if that means the names of the men become public.
Quebec City has suspended nine male officers without pay for periods of three to 30 days for innapropriate use of the internet, including looking at and sharing material considered offensive and in bad taste.
Although not illegal, their actions do contravene the city's policy on the use of information and telecommunications technology by municipal employees, which was adopted in 2005.
The sanctions against the officers are the second wave of disciplinary measures by the city following the launch of its probe into internet use, dubbed Operation Windows, in 2007. Fifteen civil servants were sanctioned in the first phase.
At least one person lost his job for surfing a pornographic site while others were punished for going on the social networking site Facebook.
So far the city has spent more than $1.1 million going after the officers and other civil servants who misuse the internet, but Coun. Richard Côté said "it's worth every penny because if a virus paralyzed the IT system, it would be very costly to fix, and the network also contains sensitive information about the city's finances."
A three-year city probe looked into internet use by employees. (CBC)
Beaudoin said a select group of constables, detectives and even members of the public shared jokes and images, which he admits is inappropriate. It would have been much simpler and less costly, he said, "if the city had simply called its four police commanders and told them to pass the message on to their staff that this type of behaviour would no longer be tolerated."
The next group of city employees to have their internet use reviewed will be firefighters.