Barrie's police department is speaking out, following a video controversy involving a former special constable.

It was at a police station in 2014 that a woman was in a holding cell for drunk driving. At the time she was a special constable for Barrie police.

The court found another special constable, Ralph Hillyard, watched restricted holding cell video of the woman after learning of the arrest.

The judge found the video contained an unpixelated view of the woman using the toilet and scolded the special constable and Barrie police in his judgment for allowing the video to be viewed.

Justice William Gorewich said Hillyard wasn't authorized to view video and called it an "abuse of the authority.” He also said it "amounts to egregious police conduct"

According to the judge, Hillyard watched the recording out of curiosity and for the sake of gossip mongering.

He also admitted to viewing holding cell video of other inmates at least a dozen times and said it was common practice.

Gorewich ruled the woman's rights were violated and dropped the impaired driving charge against her.

"She’s relieved of the outcome, but as far as what happened, it's had a drastic effect on her, she was humiliated,” says the woman’s lawyer, Leo Kinahan. “She feels very violated"

Barrie police conducted an investigation this past January after the issue was raised by the Crown. Hillyard was fired last week. 

"This is unexpected behaviour and will not be tolerated," says Barrie police chief Kimberley Greenwood.

The special constable testified that he did not see the woman being searched or on the toilet. The force disputes the video was unpixelated, meaning he wouldn't have been able to see the woman’s genital area.

“The system does not allow us to look at that type of data," Greenwood says.

Police use holding cell surveillance for safety and security reasons.

"What happened here is totally wrong, inappropriate, not illegal, just wrong," says CTV News' public safety analyst Chris Lewis.

Lewis, who is also a former OPP commissioner, says every force has policies limiting who can access recordings and that would require approval from a supervisor. 

"If supervisors knew an individual was coming in, viewing this video for entertainment purposes; the supervisors could be disciplined as well."

Barrie special constables used to have routine access to the recordings as part of their duties, but the force has now put tougher protocols in place.

“Have to go through approval process before they have access to the data and we are not storing data for a period of time,” says Greenwood. “It's much more time sensitive and refers to the shift the individuals are working."

The judge also expressed concerns the holding cell video could have been recorded on a cellphone and shared.

The woman in this case was also fired after she was charged and is now launching a wrongful dismissal suit.