Former Saint John police chief Robert Bruce allegedly once said an officer attacked with a weapon in the line of duty “got what was coming to him.”
Samantha McInnis, a former superintendent who served as executive officer to the chief, claims Bruce told her the officer got seriously injured because of “poor officer safety” and “thinks he’s a f–king hero.”
This is one of many allegations McInnis and eight other officers made in conduct complaints against Bruce last year that the Saint John Board of Police Commissioners and New Brunswick Police Commission never asked an independent investigator to investigate, an estimated 1,000 pages of unsealed court documents revealed.
These included claims of targeted harassment, bullying, a toxic work environment, abuse of authority and a culture of fear.
None of the allegations were tested in court and now that Bruce has retired, eight of the officers have abandoned their request for a court to review the full or partial dismissal of their complaints.
As Bruce is no longer a police officer or subject to the New Brunswick Police Act, the board and commission have lost jurisdiction to investigate or impose sanctions, making it “moot,” Steven Veniot, lawyer for the officers, has said.
The ninth complainant previously reached a settlement.
‘Toxic’ and ‘tyrannical’
McInnis was the first officer to file a conduct complaint against Bruce on June 13, 2025 — just one year after she had joined the force “with enthusiasm,” she wrote.
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