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www.insidehalton.com |OAKVILLE BEAVER |Thursday, June 1, 2017 |12 Drugcases m aynowbeinjeopardy continued from p.3 On his personal Twitter account, Murray sev eral times retweeted media stories about opioid addiction and how it takes over lives. About the time M urray left the unit, the HRPS was promoting a "Prescription Drug Drop-Off Day," which encouraged people to drop-off old and unused prescription medications at various locations, including Halton police stations. "Spring Cleaning -- Safeguard your hom e by dropping off your unused and unwanted pre scription drugs," Murray tweeted April 9, 2016. The thefts Murray is accused of will almost certainly jeopardize 3 0 or m ore cases connected to the evidence that has been tampered with. Al ready "a number of drug-related trials have been stayed by the prosecution," says the police media release and "the full ramifications of this situation as it relates to court prosecutions and potential withdrawal of charges will not be known for some time." The Halton Crown' s office previously sent let ters to defence lawyers about the investigation into the missing drugs. Concerns about that were raised in court as far back as January when Justice Stephen Brown, presiding over a drug case, said the uncertainty of the probe "potentially taints every investigation." The probe might also put m any ongoing cases past the newly established timelines laid out by the Supreme Court' s R v Jordan, a decision that says a case should be thrown out if the time be tween arrest and end of trial exceeds 18 months in provincial court and 3 0 in Superior court. Murray is now suspended with pay, the only option available to Ontario' s police chiefs under contentious legislation that does not allow for pay to be withheld. The investigation was sparked after a "drug exhibit anomaly was discovered" by members of the drug squad last fall, according to Tanner. That led the chief to request an audit of the 2,000-plus items in the drug exhibit inventory by two civilian members of his service. The audit re vealed at least 3 0 exhibits had been compromised. As a result, in November Tanner asked To ronto police to conduct a criminal investigation, which began in December. "In light of the findings and going forward, the Drug and Morality U nit has implemented ad ditional measures to preserve the integrity of all seized drug exhibits," says Tanner. "I am confi dent in the security of our service' s drugs exhibits and that no other cases or types of drugs are in question." The drug lock-up is at the Oakville station where the drug unit is based. But once the new HRPS HQ is completed, the storage area will move into the new building. Murray is to make his first appearance in court on June 2 7 at the provincial courthouse in Mil ton. Tanner says the service' s Professional Stan dards Bureau will now conduct a Police Services A ct investigation that could result in disciplinary charges and dismissal. t e r r a c e t a k e - a t o w a y u p a ll p r e p a r e d a n d e a s y w a r m 905.337.1400 ext. 116 c a fe @ s ju c c .c a w w w .t e r r a c e ta k e a w a y .c a St. Joseph's Ukrainian Catholic Church 300 River Oaks Blvd. East (at Trafalgar) Oakville ON This pendant is proudly made in Canada and can be engraved! 2501 Third Line, Oakville (Third Line and Dundas) 905-827-0700 280 North Service Road W.@ Dorval 905-338-6228 www.august8.ca 10% OFF Dinner only. Cash only & with this ad. www.skywayjewellers.com