‘Sad day for service’: 22-year WPS officer locked up, charged with litany of crimes

Winnipeg’s police chief vowed Thursday to regain the public’s trust after announcing a veteran officer — already accused of criminal wrongdoing last year — has been charged with more than a dozen new offences, including drug dealing while on duty and sharing a photo of a half-naked dead woman.

Winnipeg Police Service professional standards investigators re-arrested Const. Elston Bostock, 48, on Wednesday, and took him to the city remand centre, where he remains locked up. Bostock was removed from his duties as a police officer — a job he’s held for 22 years — last fall.

“These are very serious allegations which go directly against the values of the Winnipeg Police Service, tarnishing our reputation and eroding the public’s confidence,” Chief Gene Bowers told a Thursday news conference, calling it a “very sad day for the service.”

“We understand the damage this does to public trust, trust which must be earned every day, and that is what we intend to do… we take this extremely seriously.”

“We understand the damage this does to public trust, trust which must be earned every day, and that is what we intend to do… we take this extremely seriously.”–Police Chief Gene Bowers

Bostock was first arrested last November alongside Const. Matthew Kadyniuk and Const. Jonathan Kiazyk, who are also charged with criminal offences.

Drug transactions on and off duty: police

Bostock was initially charged with a total of four counts of breach of trust, two counts of obstructing justice and one count each of being unlawfully in a dwelling house, obstructing a police officer and theft under $5,000. Some of those charges were relaid by Crown prosecutors this week.

He was released on an undertaking at the time, but investigators continued their probe of Bostock’s alleged on- and off-duty actions over an extended period of time, which led to the new charges.

Police obtained a warrant and searched Bostock’s cellphone on Nov. 26. Investigators learned he allegedly made at least 84 illicit drug transactions both on and off the job between January 2016 and last November.

He was charged Wednesday with four drug-trafficking counts related to cocaine, amphetamine, psilocybin, oxycodone, tramadol and MDMA, as well as a charge of distributing illicit cannabis.

WPS Deputy Chief Cam Mackid said those drug deals were not indicative of high-level, organized-crime-type trafficking. There’s no indication the drugs were evidence taken from police storage, he said.

Warrants were also executed at Bostock’s home and his locker at work. Cocaine and psilocybin were seized from his home, police said.

Took, shared photo of dead woman: police

Mackid said Thursday that Bostock was called to a sudden death at a residence on the 500 block of Osborne St. on May 21, 2021, where he took the photo of the partially unclothed deceased woman with his phone, leading to charges of indignity to human remains and knowingly distributing an intimate image.

Bowers said he and Mackid met with a family member of the woman this week to apologize.

Between Sept. 27, 2019 and Oct. 31, 2024, Bostock allegedly stole ammunition on multiple police firearm training days and gave the cartridges to a friend, leading to charges of theft and breach of trust.

He allegedly repeatedly tried to get traffic tickets issued by other officers to individuals voided between Feb. 17, 2016, and Aug. 23, 2024, leading to obstruction of justice and breach of trust charges.

Bostock also allegedly accessed confidential information from police databases between October 2022 and June 2024 and provided it to unauthorized members of the public, leading to a breach of trust charge. Police would not elaborate on who received the information, or why.

In 2017, court heard Bostock was drunk while riding in the passenger seat with another off-duty officer at about 3:20 a.m. on March 12, 2016, when they sped down an icy residential street and crashed, hitting a fire hydrant and tearing up front yards in North Kildonan. The driver later pleaded guilty to careless driving and received a $500 fine.

Bostock has been the subject of at least two garnishment orders in 2021 and 2022, totaling $1,078, in relation to three speeding tickets, court records show.

Exemplary service medal revoked

He was awarded an exemplary service medal by the Governor General in June 2024. That medal was officially revoked this year, on June 13, said Marilyne Guèvremont, spokesperson for the Office of the Secretary to the Governor General.

The medal is reserved for officers who have completed more than 20 years of service in an “exemplary manner, characterized by good conduct, industry and efficiency.”

Typically, officers are nominated for the award by the police chief of their respective force, Guèvremont said.

Threatened arrest while evicting tenants: police

Professional standards investigators also arrested Const. Vernon Strutinsky, 44, on Wednesday.

Strutinsky, a 15-year veteran of the force, faces charges of break and entering to commit an indictable offence (extortion) and breach of trust.

Strutinsky, while partnered with Bostock in a marked cruiser car, entered a home on Mountain Avenue without authorization and unrelated to their police duties to try to evict tenants on March 16, 2023, Mackid said.

They left notes threatening the tenants would be arrested if they did not comply with the eviction, Mackid said.

Bostock was also charged with breaking and entering to commit an indictable offence (extortion) for the incident.

Strutinsky was released on an undertaking. He’s been removed from his duties but police would not say whether he’s currently being paid. Bostock, Kadyniuk and Kiazyk were still being paid as of November, when they were removed from duties.

Police should publish internal discipline documents: chief

Bowers, emphasizing the police service is looking to be more accountable and transparent, said he wrote to provincial Justice Minister Matt Wiebe Wednesday.

In the letter, he requested changes to provincial law to allow and require police to publish information about all internal disciplinary actions taken against officers and to establish a uniform code of conduct for all Manitoba law-enforcement personnel.

Bowers also recently spoke with senior police brass and directed them to meet with their officers to discuss accountability and integrity and is looking at beefing up training for supervisors across the service to be able to better spot potential misconduct.

The professional standards unit, which is composed of six investigators, as well as supervisors, will also soon add two more investigators and an additional supervisor, said Bowers.

“Trust must be earned, we can’t ask for trust, we have to earn it through our actions.”–Police Chief Gene Bowers

“Trust must be earned, we can’t ask for trust, we have to earn it through our actions,” he said. “That means transparency, decisive leadership and commitment to the highest ethical standards.”

Mackid said the lengthy internal probe included the assistance of the Independent Investigation Unit oversight agency.

Police aren’t anticipating laying additional criminal charges out of the investigation, which is now considered concluded, he said.

Other police officers first brought concerns about potential misconduct forward to professional standards about 16 months ago, sparking the probe.

“This is not a proud moment for our service,” said Mackid, applauding the officers who came forward and those who investigated their colleagues.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca