An RCMP Code of Conduct hearing is scheduled in Kelowna, B.C., next June, where the RCMP will look to fire an officer.
According to the RCMP hearing schedule, the RCMP is holding a Code of Conduct hearing for Cpl. Ryan Wilton in Kelowna on June 2, 2025. Hearings are held when "the member's dismissal is being sought," according to the RCMP, although a board can "administer various conduct measures including dismissal."
While the details of the allegations Cpl. Wilton faces are not disclosed prior to the hearing, the allegations include one count of being impaired by drugs, alcohol or other substances while on duty, one count of using government-issued equipment for an unauthorized purpose and four counts of behaving in a manner that could discredit the force.
Staff Sgt. Kris Clark, spokesperson with the RCMP E Division, told Castanet Cpl. Wilton is currently suspended with pay. He did not say how long Cpl. Wilton has been suspended for.
According to online court records, the officer has not been charged with any criminal offences.
While the hearing will be held in Kelowna, it appears Cpl. Wilton is not a member of the Kelowna RCMP.
Staff Sgt. Clark says Cpl. Wilton is “attached to E Division Headquarters as his place of work.” E Division headquarters is based in Surrey. It's not clear why the hearing is being held in Kelowna.
As a constable, Wilton appears to have worked as an undercover officer in Kamloops back in 2009, according to a 2010 article.
Most Code of Conduct hearings are held for lower ranking constables, rather than corporals. Of the 17 officers currently facing scheduled hearings, 14 are constables, two are corporals and one is a higher ranking sergeant.
The most recent local RCMP Code of Conduct hearing was this past June when a Penticton officer was accused of sexually harassing a coworker at a Christmas party. The board cleared the officer of wrongdoing, describing his actions as “a serious lack of judgment, completely inappropriate and having no place in the workplace,” but not sexual harassment.
A code of conduct hearing was originally scheduled for Kelowna RCMP officer Const. Sean Eckland in November 2023, but that was rescheduled for March of this year. That hearing was again cancelled and no new hearing has been scheduled since. Const. Eckland, who sent explicit texts to the victim in a domestic assault case he was investigating, has been collecting a paycheque while suspended since December 2019.
Meanwhile, the RCMP never sought the dismissal of Const. Lacy Browning, who was convicted of assaulting a young UBCO nursing student who was experiencing a mental health crisis in January 2020.
