This deputy police chief was allegedly caught going 50 km/h over the speed limit but wasn’t ticketed. The case has been kept from the public until now

Chris Kirkpatrick, deputy chief of the Durham police, was allegedly driving his unmarked vehicle through a school zone in June when he was stopped for speeding. 
The next day, Kirkpatrick was stopped again, this time for allegedly travelling more than 50 km/h over the speed limit — an offence that, according to the Highway Traffic Act, should lead to a charge of stunt driving, a license suspension and the immediate impounding of the driver’s vehicle.
Both times he was let off, according to an internal complaint made by a Durham cop and shared with the Star. 
The Star spoke with another Durham police officer who wasn’t involved in the complaint but confirmed the details of the allegations, which have not been proven.
Durham police confirmed to the Star that Kirkpatrick’s alleged speeding was raised internally with police chief Peter Moreira, who referred the matter to the Durham Regional Police Services Board. The board subsequently tapped Peel Regional Police to conduct an investigation.
Kirkpatrick did not respond to multiple requests for comment. 
Peel police told the Star they completed their investigation earlier this year and provided a report to the Durham police board, which has kept the report and its findings secret ever since.
The lack of transparency about the incidents, and the apparent lack of consequences for Kirkpatrick, has stirred resentment among rank-and-file officers and renewed questions about a police force still grappling with allegations that its senior leaders routinely abused their power and created a favoured group of “untouchables” within the top ranks.
The police service is still under investigation by the Ontario Civilian Police Commission for alleged corruption and cronyism by senior officers. That investigation began more than five years ago. (Durham’s former police chief Paul Martin, among those at the centre of the allegations, retired in 2020. He has denied any wrongdoing.)
Reached by phone, Ajax Mayor Shaun Collier, who chairs the Durham police board, refused to answer any questions about the allegations against Kirkpatrick or the report by Peel. 
“I’ll save you some time, I’m not commenting,” he said.
Asked if he had read Peel police’s report, Collier said: “Yep, I’ve got to go,” and then hung up.
Kirkpatrick joined Durham police last year from Toronto, where his most recent rank was superintendent. Among his responsibilities as deputy chief are professional responsibility, education and training, and promotions, according to an organizational chart on the police service’s website.
Durham police referred all questions about Kirkpatrick’s alleged speeding to the police board, whose executive director, Bill Clancy, did not respond to questions. 
Collier did not respond to followup questions sent earlier this month by email, including why the board, a civilian body intended to represent the public’s interests, had not made public the findings of the Peel police investigation.
In August, the police board sent the Star a general statement, attributed to Collier, that did not address the specific allegations against Kirkpatrick, but said all allegations against police are investigated “with the firm objective of ensuring accountability.”
The statement continues: “All members of the DRPS are expected to be exemplary in their behaviour, and this is especially true of leaders of the organization. If misconduct does occur, regardless of the member’s rank, appropriate action will be taken.”
In addition to Collier, the other members of the Durham police board are Oshawa Mayor Dan Carter, Clarington councillor Willie Woo, and three unelected members of the public: Mark Welch, Garry Cubitt and Karen Fisher. 
Carter did not respond to questions and Woo declined to comment through a spokesperson. Fisher, the only other board member the Star could reach, wrote in a LinkedIn message that Collier “has advised that the Board has no comment.”
The police board’s refusal to make public the investigation into Kirkpatrick illustrates the “significant gaps in our police accountability framework,” said Danardo Jones, a law professor at the University of Windsor. 
One of the main purposes of a civilian police board is to promote accountability and transparency within the police service, Jones said, so a police board operating with “this veil of secrecy … is obviously problematic.”
Kirkpatrick’s alleged speeding occurred on June 5 and 6, according to the internal complaint seen by the Star. 
On June 5, Kirkpatrick was allegedly stopped while travelling 24 km/h over the speed limit in a school zone. The next day, while en route to a night shift platoon briefing in Pickering, Kirkpatrick was allegedly travelling 108 km/h in a 50 km/h zone. 
Two weeks later, Andrew Tummonds, the president of the Durham police union, sent a message to officers saying he had raised concerns about “the driving of a member of DRPS leadership” to members of the police board, though he did not mention Kirkpatrick by name.
Tummonds, who did not respond to questions from the Star, also wrote to his members that he is “committed to ensuring that expectations placed upon members of our Association are also observed by members of the Senior Officers Association, as well as Command.”
One of Durham police’s strategic priorities for this year is improving road safety “by focusing enforcement on driving behaviours that cause the greatest harm,” according to the public agenda of a February police board meeting. 
The board provided a status update on this objective earlier this month, noting how the police service continues to use proactive traffic enforcement to “enhance” road safety.
Durham police also routinely publicize on social media when they lay excessive speeding and stunt driving charges, using the posts as public service announcements. 
“Stunt driver, 99 km/h in a 50 km/h zone. … $2000 fine, 6 points and 14 Day vehicle impoundment, in addition to 30 day suspension! #SlowDown,” reads an August post from an official Durham police account on X, accompanied by a photo of a car about to be hitched to a tow truck.