Ottawa Police Service detective Helen Grus, accused of discreditable conduct after investigating the COVID-19 vaccination status of mothers of deceased infants, testified at her hearing Monday she was only doing her duty.“My duty as a police officer is to preserve life and property, to preserve the peace. And if I see any one of those situations arising where I need to step in and preserve life, I will do something. And that’s what I did,” Grus testified at the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) building in Stittsville, as reported by Epoch Times.The detective with the OPS sexual assault and child abuse unit is accused of discreditable conduct for conducting an “unauthorized project” between June 2020 and January 2022 by examining the sudden deaths of nine infants.Grus allegedly accessed Ottawa police files and then contacted the coroner’s office to learn the COVID-19 vaccination status of the parents, as she believed there could be an association between the two.On Jan. 30, 2022, Grus also allegedly contacted the father of a deceased infant to inquire into the COVID-19 vaccination status of their mother, without the knowledge of the lead detective. Grus was suspended without pay from the OPS on Feb. 4, 2022, then ordered to return to work with restrictions during an Oct. 11, 2022, OPS internal hearing.In testimony, Grus said she had been concerned after being informed of a “doubling if not tripling of baby deaths” that happened after the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines. Grus said two detectives had told her “fully alert and healthy babies” had suddenly died in their mothers’ arms.“That concerned me. In 20-plus years of policing, I’ve never seen that phenomenon,” Grus said.Grus said her investigation aligned with Peel’s Principles, a set of ethical guidelines for policing by Sir Robert Peel in 1829. The fifth principle states that police must “seek and preserve public favor not by catering to the public opinion but by constantly demonstrating absolute impartial service to the law.”The detective said while COVID-19 vaccine mandates were coming into force and causing “division” within OPS, she felt it was important to impartially investigate the infant deaths, not “pander to public opinion.”Grus read out a performance review she received last January, which said she had “taken on a number of large and complex investigations” in the year prior and that she had either “fully met” or “met all and exceeded some expectations.”“Receiving this meant a lot, because the nine months that I was off on suspension was tough on me,” Grus testified. “So being brought back to the service, being able to serve the community, meant a lot.”At the beginning of Grus’s testimony, as she was being asked about her history in the OPS, prosecutor Jessica Barrow objected and said they were repeating content that had already been entered as evidence. “We have here a 48-page affidavit with an extensive number of issues covered ... to spend a considerable amount of the tribunal’s time going through each and every one of the aspects of an affidavit — that’s already before you — has no utility,” she said.Defence lawyer Bath-Sheba van den Berg replied that Grus needed to tell her story, and that stopping her testimony at portions covered in her affidavit would be “incredibly disruptive” and an “abuse of process.”Hearing Officer Chris Renwick said there had been “too much repetition” throughout the tribunal, and said Grus needed to give evidence that was relevant to the hearing. “I'd really like to get to the substance of it,” he said.Grus also testified that a few Ottawa police officers had developed heart issues after taking COVID-19 vaccines.Below, an independent journalist complains he was denied access to the hearings.
Ottawa Police Service detective Helen Grus, accused of discreditable conduct after investigating the COVID-19 vaccination status of mothers of deceased infants, testified at her hearing Monday she was only doing her duty.“My duty as a police officer is to preserve life and property, to preserve the peace. And if I see any one of those situations arising where I need to step in and preserve life, I will do something. And that’s what I did,” Grus testified at the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) building in Stittsville, as reported by Epoch Times.The detective with the OPS sexual assault and child abuse unit is accused of discreditable conduct for conducting an “unauthorized project” between June 2020 and January 2022 by examining the sudden deaths of nine infants.Grus allegedly accessed Ottawa police files and then contacted the coroner’s office to learn the COVID-19 vaccination status of the parents, as she believed there could be an association between the two.On Jan. 30, 2022, Grus also allegedly contacted the father of a deceased infant to inquire into the COVID-19 vaccination status of their mother, without the knowledge of the lead detective. Grus was suspended without pay from the OPS on Feb. 4, 2022, then ordered to return to work with restrictions during an Oct. 11, 2022, OPS internal hearing.In testimony, Grus said she had been concerned after being informed of a “doubling if not tripling of baby deaths” that happened after the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines. Grus said two detectives had told her “fully alert and healthy babies” had suddenly died in their mothers’ arms.“That concerned me. In 20-plus years of policing, I’ve never seen that phenomenon,” Grus said.Grus said her investigation aligned with Peel’s Principles, a set of ethical guidelines for policing by Sir Robert Peel in 1829. The fifth principle states that police must “seek and preserve public favor not by catering to the public opinion but by constantly demonstrating absolute impartial service to the law.”The detective said while COVID-19 vaccine mandates were coming into force and causing “division” within OPS, she felt it was important to impartially investigate the infant deaths, not “pander to public opinion.”Grus read out a performance review she received last January, which said she had “taken on a number of large and complex investigations” in the year prior and that she had either “fully met” or “met all and exceeded some expectations.”“Receiving this meant a lot, because the nine months that I was off on suspension was tough on me,” Grus testified. “So being brought back to the service, being able to serve the community, meant a lot.”At the beginning of Grus’s testimony, as she was being asked about her history in the OPS, prosecutor Jessica Barrow objected and said they were repeating content that had already been entered as evidence. “We have here a 48-page affidavit with an extensive number of issues covered ... to spend a considerable amount of the tribunal’s time going through each and every one of the aspects of an affidavit — that’s already before you — has no utility,” she said.Defence lawyer Bath-Sheba van den Berg replied that Grus needed to tell her story, and that stopping her testimony at portions covered in her affidavit would be “incredibly disruptive” and an “abuse of process.”Hearing Officer Chris Renwick said there had been “too much repetition” throughout the tribunal, and said Grus needed to give evidence that was relevant to the hearing. “I'd really like to get to the substance of it,” he said.Grus also testified that a few Ottawa police officers had developed heart issues after taking COVID-19 vaccines.Below, an independent journalist complains he was denied access to the hearings.
