An officer with the Thunder Bay Police Service has had his appeal against a conviction of neglect of duty and discreditable conduct dismissed.

It stems from a July 2022 decision in relation to the investigation into the death of Stacey DeBungee, a Rainy River First Nations man, whose body was discovered in the McIntyre River in 2015.

Complaints from family and leadership of DeBungee’s community prompted a second investigation which revealed issues in the initial investigation.

The decision resulted Staff Sergeant Shawn Harrison being penalized with a demotion to Sergeant for 18 months and implemented mandatory Indigenous cultural competency training.

Details from Harrison’s appeal can be found here.

Meanwhile, a second appeal filed by public complainants Brad DeBungee and Jim Leonard which sought to have Harrison dismissed from the Thunder Bay Police Service altogether, has also been dismissed.

Full details from that appeal can be found here.