The ministry that oversees police training in Ontario won’t say whether an instructor at the Aylmer police college charged after a gun was fired during training remains on the job.
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Elgin OPP responded to a report of a negligent discharge of a firearm during a training session at the Ontario Police College (OPC) on Oct. 13, police said. Nobody was injured.
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Katherine Williams, 56, an instructor at the college, is charged with careless use of a firearm.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of the Solicitor General said the ministry takes the safety of staff and cadets at the police college very seriously but declined to provide any information on Williams’ work status, citing confidentiality reasons.
“There were no injuries and the (Ontario Police College) is reviewing its internal procedures to prevent future incidents,” spokesperson Greg Flood said in an email. “Given the OPP have laid a charge in this matter, it would be inappropriate to comment further. The ministry does not discuss confidential human resources publicly.”
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Established in 1962 at Aylmer’s former air force station, the OPC offers basic constable training three times a year. The school also offers specialized training courses for police officers.
Williams was a police officer in Thunder Bay for 30 years before becoming a full-time instructor at the Southwestern Ontario police college in January 2019, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Williams, an experienced instructor in defensive tactics and firearms who left the Thunder Bay force in June, is an instructor in the rapid deployment unit, her profile states. She is scheduled to appear in court in St. Thomas on Nov. 14.
The charge against Williams comes less than a year after a security guard at the college, Peter Neufeld, 54, of St. Thomas, was charged with two counts of extortion and two counts of criminal harassment. College staff contacted police on Nov. 10, 2022, after two students complained about an employee of a private security firm at the college, Elgin OPP said at the time.
Neufeld is alleged to have “without reasonable justification or excuse and with intent to obtain a bottle of alcohol” threatened to report the complainants to their employer, according to court documents. The case remains before the courts.
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