Most jobs provide employees two or three weeks of paid vacation time, but if you are a Windsor police officer and are suspended after attempting to smuggle a large quantity of alcohol across an international border, you effectively earn a three-and-half year paid vacation.
Dorothy Nesbeth, a Windsor police officer, has been suspended with pay since she was stopped at the Detroit-Windsor border in July 2010 for failing to declare wine, rum, and more than 100 cans of beer in her car. She was also charged under Canadian law with "deceit" and "discreditable conduct." The process for resolving those charges has been slow going and Nesbeth continues to receive her paycheck even though she's been suspended.
Windsor Star: The hearing began Aug. 30, 2011. On Sept. 1, 2011, it was adjourned nearly a year to July 3, 2012. The case was put on hold while Ducharme spent eight months on a trial in Toronto.
The hearing started again in July 2012 with Ducharme set to argue for a motion banning the public from the proceedings. But that quickly took a back seat when he learned evidence from the previous year was lost. The entire audio recordings of testimony from four CBSA officers was gone, along with most testimony from a fifth.
The case continues on with several more stops and starts along the way.
Nesbeth has collected $288,000 in pays since she was suspended.
