The Overtime Sting
Journalist flies above the radar
BY Nadeem Basaria
When Edmonton Sun columnist Kerry Diotte wrote an article criticizing photo radar, the last thing he expected was personal retaliation from Edmonton police. But two days after Diotte described photo radar as a “cash cow,” staff sergeant Bill Newton ran Diotte’s name through a national information system and ordered subordinates to try to trap the journalist.
Newton was charged with insubordination and unlawful exercise of authority as a result and Diotte is suing the Edmonton Police Service (EPS), the city of Edmonton, former police chief Fred Rayner and other members of the EPS for $1.75 million for, among other things, violation of his rights and privacy and damage to his reputation and career.
On November 18, 2004, seven Edmonton police officers staked out the Overtime Broiler and Taproom during a journalists’ gathering. A police reporter monitoring radio scanners heard the officers planning to arrest Diotte for drunk driving and tipped him off. Diotte took a cab home.
Word of the sting spread widely and by the following week papers across the country were covering the story. The news reported that media spokesperson Bryan Boulanger issued a press release saying officers were at the Overtime because of a tip that a patron would soon be driving home drunk. A Calgary deputy police chief asked to investigate found the release deliberately misleading, and Boulanger faces discredible conduct charges.
At his September 21, 2005 disciplinary hearing, Newton said he was justified in running Diotte’s name. He testified the matter was “police-related,” not personal, and said he would do it again if a journalist published articles that misled the public. RCMP assistant commissioner Ian Atkins, who presided over Newton’s hearing, decided on November 14, 2005 that Newton was guilty of insubordination—for which he was given a written reprimand—but not guilty for unlawful exercise of authority.
