Guelph Police Service officer Corey McArthur will need to wait until July to learn what his future holds. McArthur, 48, pleaded guilty to discreditable conduct related to a 2016 incident at Guelph General Hospital. Video showed a 17-year-old who had been acting erratically after using crystal meth had been handcuffed to a gurney. The teen kneed McArthur in the chest or stomach. In response, the officer struck the teen with his elbow. McArthur also pleaded guilty to assault in court in 2018. A police penalty hearing resumed this week, more than 10 years after the incident, as the Guelph Police Service has been trying to have him dismissed since the incident. The police service’s lawyer, Jessica Barrow, has previously claimed that McArthur is untrustworthy in volatile situations due to several events in his past, including an incident in 2008 when he was charged with assault after arresting someone for public intoxication outside a Guelph bar. On Thursday, McArthur’s lawyer, Madeleine Ross, refuted that assertation, saying that his employment records tell a different story and claimed that the 2008 incident is not indicative of a pattern of behaviour. “He has frequently been counted on and relied on to appropriately respond to difficult and volatile situations,” Ross argued. Ross also said McArthur could still be of use to the police service without being back on the frontline. “There are many different roles within policing that do not necessarily involve frontline policing,” she stressed. Ross concluded by saying a dismissal would have an impact not just on McArthur, who is approaching retirement, but also on his family. “Demotion towards the end of one’s career impacts their pension, it is not a small consequence,” she stated. McArthur’s fate is now in the hands of the hearing officer who will review all the evidence and submissions, and announce the decision in July.
