Ottawa police officer demoted after 69 unauthorized database searches into ex-partners, members of public

An Ottawa Police Service patch is seen on an officer's uniform during an event in Ottawa on Friday, March 7, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

An Ottawa police constable has been demoted for 18 months after using the police and Ministry of Transportation databases more than 60 times to search for information on his ex-partners and other members of the public, including people he met or observed at the gym.

Const. Jerome Rabiha-Stevens pleaded guilty to two counts of failure to comply with procedures and two counts of undermining public trust.

A report by the Ontario Police Arbitration and Adjudication Commission with the settlement agreement and the penalty of Rabiha-Stevens being demoted from the rank of first-class constable to second-class constable for 18 months was signed on Monday and released this week.

According to the agreed statement of facts, Const. Rabiha-Stevens was on duty on April 27, 2025, when he observed his ex-partner, referred to as S.T., sitting in a vehicle in a parking lot with a man, identified as B.H. The report said the constable “maneuvered his police cruiser” between S.T.’s and B.H.’s vehicle and confronted the woman about “what she was doing and the whereabouts of her child.”

When Rabiha-Stevens reversed his cruiser, he made contact with B.H.’s vehicle, causing minor damage to his car. The report said B.H. contacted the Ottawa Police Service about the collision.

The Ottawa Police Service’s Intimate Partner Violence Unit and the Motor Vehicle Collision Investigative Unit launched investigations into the incident, but no criminal charges were laid.

The agreed statement of facts said that during the investigation into the collision, G.L. (the owner of the vehicle driven by B.H. and an ex-partner of B.H.), told police she had a relationship with Const. Rabiha-Stevens and said the officer “appeared to know her home address despite having never shared that information with him.”

“This prompted concerns leading to a Professional Standards Unit (“PSU”) investigation initiated on May 14, 2025,” the report said.

Unauthorized searches over 14 months

The adjudicator’s report said the Professional Standards Unit investigation found Rabiha-Stevens used the Ministry of Transportation’s Inquiry Services System on April 8 to search G.L.’s licence plate. The investigation revealed the officer “conducted numerous unauthorized queries” between March 2024 and May 2025 while on and off duty, including during sick leave and annual leave.

According to the agreed statement of facts, investigators found Rabiha-Stevens conducted “17 unauthorized queries” on the MTO Inquiry Services System database and the Canadian Police Information Centre database related “in large part to his personal relationships” and three unauthorized searches relating to women he met or observed at the gym.”

There were also 49 unauthorized queries in both the MTO and CPIC databases on members of the public. The investigation showed the license plates queried belonged to registered owners in Embrun, Casselman, Crysler, St. Charles, Hawkesbury, Orleans, Rockland, Kitchener, Nepean, Val Caron, St. Albert, and Russell.

“Const. Rabiha-Stevens could not recall the majority of these queries and could not explain why he conducted them,” the report said, referring to investigators asking the officer about the searches of people living in and around where he lived.

“He indicated he did not recognize the individuals to whom the queried license plates belonged. His explanations for these queries included that he was curious, and that he tended to make mental notes of license plates that drove by his house.”

Rabiha-Stevens joined the Ottawa Police Service in March 2022.

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