Chatham-Kent's police chief understands if people are upset that a suspended officer is on the provincial sunshine list.
The sergeant was on suspension for all of last year and was paid $108,000.
Chief Gary Conn agrees people will be angry but his hands are tied.
"Rightfully so, I'm not pleased about that and there is not much I can say surrounding the issue because it is still before the courts," he says. "If the officer is convicted and receives a sentence where there is a penalty of incarceration, at that time and only that time can the chief of police suspend an officer without pay."
Sergeant Robert Mugridge has been suspended with pay since May 2014 and faces a number of fraud charges.
Previous media reports have indicated there have at times been up to 80 officers in Ontario suspended with pay.
Conn said during municipal budget deliberations earlier this year that salaries take up about 90% of the police budget.
