More than four years ago, the Lethbridge police chief went to lunch with a voluntary police chaplain. However, as was the case in the heart of the coco-19 cocovio pandemic, eyebrows were raised.
Shahin Mehdizadeh joined the Lethbridge police Service as a chief in 2020, but in March of the following year, it is alleged that he broke the Public Health Order of Alberta by eating in a public place with a non-House member.
The allegations came from the former deputy police chief and the acting police chief, Scott Woods.
In January 2022, he accused Mehdizadeh of 16 counts and the Edmonton police service was responsible for investigating.
The EPS survey determined that 10 allegations were under time under the police or complainant law, Woods, had not standing to file a complaint.
The Lethbridge police committee rejected the other six allegations as “frivolous and vexatious and lacking in evidence”.
However, in 2023, Woods called on the police examination council and, in 2024, the board of directors confirmed that 10 were barred or without position and he agreed that three of the six remaining counts should have been rejected.
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However, he ordered the Lethbridge police committee to lead an audience on the three remaining allegations.
This audience took place Thursday at the Town Hall of Lethbridge. One of the three counts was immediately rejected. Thus, Mehdizadeh’s hearing focused on his alleged violation of the COVVI-19 protocols and would then have denied any reprehensible act after the fact.
Woods and Mehdizadeh were called witnesses and the two men testified to the Commission.
The relationship between Woods and Mehdizadeh was discussed, the first saying that he, “felt very not taken care of under the command (Mehdizadeh).”
Meanwhile, Mehdizadeh agreed that they had a “tense” employment relationship.
During the hearing, Mehdizadeh did not deny lunch with the chaplain of the voluntary LPS, but he said: “It was not made for a malicious intention.”
Dan Scott, Mehdizadeh’s lawyer, says it was an innocent meal at a time when health orders were constantly evolving.
“There was no intention to violate the order of health,” said Scott.
Mehdizadeh says that at the time, he thought it was a reasonable thing to do because the chaplain was part of his cohort at work and that they regularly had close contact in the office.
In addition, Mehdizadeh says that he and the chaplain were physically distant during the brief meal, which took place in the dining room of a local market, not in a restaurant, a pub or a coffee.
Mehdizadeh also says that when he learned that it was against the COVVI-19 protocol, he apologized and promised that it would not happen again.
Woods confirmed during the hearing that the apology occurred shortly after confronting the police chief about the situation, however, he said that Mehdizadeh initially denied allegations before being corrected by another LPS member.
All the parties agreed that Mehdizadeh had not followed the public health order, but the chief’s council asked that the other two charges be rejected.
This was mainly due to the approach that Mehdizadeh adopted when he dealt with others who raped the protocols at the time. His lawyer says he favored education in relation to the application and, since he has already accepted responsibility and apologized, the counts should be lifted.
The Lethbridge police committee will meet on June 16 at 9:30 am
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