The Law Enforcement Review Board (LERB) has ruled that a Calgary cop who received a reprimand for repeatedly using racial slurs was disciplined appropriately, even as it acknowledged that the allegations against him were “not only watered down,” but entirely shorn of substance. 

In August 2021, Const. Gareth Clarke wrote a letter to then-Calgary police chief Mark Neufeld outlining three occasions in which his colleague Const. Andrew Fuhrman used the n-word.

Fuhrman, according to Clarke’s letter, referred to someone disappearing “like shit off a n—,” said another person was “hiding like a n— in a woodpile,” and used the same slur to refer to a colleague’s Nigerian neighbours over the course of three months. 

Neufeld determined in March 2023 that the accusations against Fuhrman were serious enough to warrant a Professional Standards Section investigation. 

Clarke additionally alleged that Fuhrman threatened to shoot him and called him a “race traitor,” but Neufeld opted to focus on the racial slurs.

Calgary Police Service Const. Andrew Fuhrman repeatedly used the n-word in conversations with colleagues. He received a reprimand for "inappropriate comments and/or foul jokes."

Fuhrman’s hearing was held in October 2023, with a Statement of Particulars that referred explicitly to his “like shit off a n—” remark. But, the LERB acknowledged, the statement was “severely truncated” following the hearing, replacing the specific remark in question with “some inappropriate and derogatory language.”

That wasn’t the only change after the hearing. The original Notice and Record of Disciplinary Proceedings, dated August 2023, referred to Fuhrman’s alleged “inappropriate racial comments.” An updated version removed the word ‘racial,’ and added the phrase ‘and/or foul jokes’ at the end. 

Fuhrman received a reprimand after accepting an agreed statement of facts, which listed a series of swear words as the offensive language he used, excluding any racial slurs. 

Alleging a coverup, Clarke appealed this decision, resulting in a June 2024 LERB hearing, in which Clarke revealed that Fuhrman was promoted to acting sergeant after the reprimand while Clarke was reassigned to another unit. 

“I've lost friends over it. I've had arguments with other members of the unit who have openly challenged me over what I've done. It's just so unacceptable. In my opinion, this is a prime reason why the membership have a severe distrust of the service,” he told the hearing.

The March 11 LERB decision, signed by board member Megan Perry, acknowledged that the board was “very troubled” by the changes made to the record and statement, which is “not merely watered down; it fails to capture the essence of the appellant’s allegations.” 

The board, however, “reluctantly concludes” that the presenting officer, which essentially functions as the prosecutor in a disciplinary hearing, “has wide berth to determine how to frame and present their case.”

“Specifically, the presenting officer’s exercise of their professional judgment in electing to water down the allegations would not be the board’s preferred approach, but it acknowledges this was a choice that fell within his authority to make,” the decision added.

The presiding officer, which functions as a judge in Professional Standards cases, doesn’t have the power to reject changes to the notice or statement, just as a judge in criminal court has no authority to question which charges are pursued by the Crown, the board determined.

Another issue Clarke raised was that Fuhrman’s lawyers refused to disclose witness statements that were made as part of Chief Neufeld’s initial investigation and an email that was sent to potential witnesses, which the LERB agreed is “concerning.” 

“Without reviewing the witness statements or the email, the board is unable to truly assess whether something in the email attempted to dissuade witnesses from coming forward and this hinders the board’s ability to properly carry out its civilian oversight function,” the decision reads. 

At the hearing last year, Clarke, who’s been a police officer for 15 years, explained his motivation for coming forward with the allegations against Fuhrman. 

“My intention was to challenge something that I felt was completely unacceptable—no excuse in our profession—especially with media coverage of the last five to 10 years,” he said. “If one of us says something, we're all guilty of it unless we challenge it.”