Heather Wright/The Independent

The Sarnia Interim Police Chief and board won’t be releasing further information about news the workplace investigation into suspended Chief Derek Davis is now a criminal matter.

Interim Chief Mike Federico says that information, which became public after the Law Enforcement Complaints Agency released released the details in a letter, is not normally shared with the public.

The Law Enforcement Complaints Agency – LECA – sent to the owner of The Sarnia Journal saying the investigation into his complaint against Davis, filed April 13, had been put on hold.

“It has come to the director’s attention that this matter has become the subject of a criminal investigation,” wrote LECA’s Senior Manager of Investigations Libero Papagni.”Based on this information, the director has now determined the commencement of the investigation of this matter is to be suspended.”

The letter was provided to The Independent by The Sarnia Journal’s owner, Nathan Colquhoun, and verified by LECA as authentic.

Starting in May 2025, Colquhoun wrote a number of columns and articles and posted a 35-minute-long video critical of the Chief’s financial interest in Norigen/Norin Management Consulting Inc and the hiring of his partner in the business, Joseph Glover to the Sarnia Police Service as the Manager of Analytics. The department began developing its own analytical software after Davis came on board in 2022.

Colquhoun’s opinion pieces led Davis to file a $1.5 million defamation suit. It was dropped after the Sarnia Police Board suspended Davis and began a workplace harassment investigation into the Chief. The board later said it would not pay the legal fees for the civil suit.

While the defamation lawsuit ended, the investigation by the Law Enforcement Complaints Agency continued.

Colquhoun’s complaint to the LECA included not only his concerns about Davis’ financial interest in Norigen and the hiring by Sarnia Police of his business partner from the firm as well as the hiring of a civilian to the analytics project. He had been a Halton Regional Police officer until he plead guilty to breach of trust after stealing drugs from the department’s evidence room. Davis approached him to see if he was interested in the job.

Now, the Law Enforcement Complaint’s Agency has suspended its investigation into Colquhoun’s complaint after it heard from other bodies investigating that there is now a criminal investigation.

Interim Sarnia Police Chief Mike Federico wouldn’t comment directly on the case surrounding the suspended Sarnia chief but he says it is not unusual for one agency to suspend an investigation so another can investigate criminal activity.

“There’s sometimes a nexus, and the activity may in fact breach both arenas. And if the focus switches to the criminal aspect, then LECA usually defer to a police investigation,” he says, adding the LECA will continue the investigation later.

“They would basically stand by while the criminal investigation is pursued, remaining informed. The exchange of information still goes on to the extent and condition that the agency is permitted to know – there may be some restrictions on what could be shared depending on the actual investigation.”

But Federico says that information is not usually shared with the public.

“The general public is not a party to the complaint or participating in any way, and so there are limits on what can be disclosed to the public,” he tells The Independent.

“In the interests of procedural justice, there are human beings involved who have rights and protections, and so the agencies are going to be extremely scrupulous in protecting those rights. And so, public commentary or news releases are going to be very circumspect.”

Neither Federico, the LECA nor the chair of the Sarnia Police Services Board would say which agency is investigating the criminal matter in the Davis investigation.

Police Board Chair Kelly Ash did confirm Friday that the workplace harassment investigation is ongoing.

Davis, who has a contract with the Sarnia Police until 2032, has not spoken publicly about the workplace harassment investigation.

Deputy Chief Ron Hansen and a civilian were also suspended in the investigation.