editorial comment One more reason to be on the side of the drug warriors.

A Toronto Police officer who says his cocaine addiction resulted from undercover work should be allowed to keep his job, a review board said Monday.

The decision by the Ontario Civilian Commission on Police Services (OCCOPS) reverses an earlier decision by a police tribunal to fire Robert Kelly.

Kelly, 38, was an undercover officer investigating drug dealers when, he says, the stress of his job and the access to cocaine it provided led to him becoming an addict.

Arrested in a sting operation in 2001, Kelly pleaded guilty to criminal charges, as well as to an internal misconduct charge.

In a joint submission to the internal police tribunal, the prosecution and defence accepted Kelly's argument that his cocaine dependency should be treated as a job-related disability.

They proposed assigning Kelly to a desk job under strict conditions, and subjecting him to random drug tests.

But the hearing officer at the tribunal, Supt. Anthony Warr disagreed. On Sept. 30, 2004, he rejected the joint submission ordered Kelly to resign or be fired.

In its decision Monday, the OCCOPS panel called that decision "unduly harsh and punitive."

Kelly's addiction "constitutes a disability under the provisions of Ontario's Human Rights Code," it said.

"There is a legal duty on employers to take efforts to accommodate employees with such disabilities."

OCCOPS is a civilian agency empowered by the Police Services Act to hold police forces accountable. The commission reports to Ontario's solicitor general.


Its decisions can be appealed in provincial court.

A Toronto Police spokesperson said Chief Bill Blair was reviewing the decision Monday.

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