Lethbridge’s police oversight board is looking into a complaint that the city’s police chief broke public health restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A former Lethbridge deputy chief alleges that Lethbridge Police Chief Shahin Mehdizadeh engaged in discreditable conduct by taking a chaplain out for lunch in March 2021.
After receiving advice from a provincial review board, the Lethbridge Police Commission has scheduled a hearing next month to look into three allegations.
It’s alleged that Mehdizadeh violated public health orders, denied he’d done anything wrong and held other officers accountable for breaking pandemic rules after supposedly breaking them himself.
A previous investigation by Edmonton police found 10 of 16 allegations were made too late or didn’t have standing.
Lethbridge police say the remaining allegations were found to be “frivolous and vexatious.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 27, 2025.
