2 Lethbridge police officers demoted for their roles in 'MemeGate'

Two police officers in Lethbridge, Alta., have been demoted for their roles inwhat has becomeknown as "MemeGate."

The sanctions were handed down Tuesday afternoon at Lethbridge's Galt Museum in ahearing that was a continuation of an ongoing disciplinary action.

Const. Matthew Rilkoffand Const. David Easter of the Lethbridge Police Serviceinitially pleaded guilty on Nov. 2, along with Sgt. Jason Moulton.

Rilkoffand Easter will be demoted for a period of one year, whichtranslates into a financial hit of about $15,000 each over the course of that year.

The guilty pleas took place eight months after allthree officers, and two others who plan toresign,were suspended followingaccusationsof distributing inappropriate images.

The officers faced a total of 32 misconduct charges for allegedly distributing the offensive memessome of which were disrespectful to the force's leadershipwhile others had racial or sexist undertones, according to sources who viewed the images.

The sanctions for Rilkoff and Easter were originally scheduled to be handed out on Dec. 16.Moulton's hearing has been rescheduled for Jan. 10.

Const. Keon Woronuk andConst. Derek Riddellpreviously had their cases adjourned until Feb. 3, 2022, whenthey are expected to hand in their resignations.

The LPS said it was unable to provide additional comment due to the ongoing process of the hearings.

Memeson work-issuedphones

Sources previously told CBC Newsthat some of the memes were posted on work-issued phones while officers were on duty. CBC News has not viewed the images but some have been described by those who have.

Some of the memes involved the faces of Rob Davis, who was chief at the time, and Deputy Chief Scott Woodspasted onto images, including some from the Toy Story series of films.

The police service has found itself involved in a number of scandals in recent years.

Earlier this year, Alberta Justice Minister Kaycee Madu ordered Lethbridge police Chief Shahin Mehdizadeh to produce a plan to shape up the force.

Another controversy involved the discovery that employees allegedly used police databases to conduct unauthorized searches of Shannon Phillips' personal information, who was an NDP cabinet minister at the time.

Last week, Lethbridge's police commission rejected a call for a public inquiry into allegations that members of the servicethreatened retaliation against Phillips and CBC reporter Meghan Grant for exposing misconduct in the force.

Rob vanSpronsen, the chair of the commission, wrote ina statement thatthe circumstances around the request were "problematic."