Police chief Bill Blair asked for patience, explaining he could not fire officers without disciplinary hearings, and that the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), which probes serious injuries involving police, had “first crack.”
“I don’t think anyone can accuse me of not holding my people accountable,” Blair, who retired this year, said in December 2010.
Five years later, however, the record leaves little room for doubt, critics say.
Only two officers have faced criminal charges. The sole conviction was entered against Const. Babak Andalib-Goortani, whose excessive force while arresting protester Adam Nobody was caught on video. He will serve no jail time.
Of the eight officers found guilty by Toronto police disciplinary tribunal hearings of committing serious wrongdoing during the summit, only four received penalties. (One officer was convicted in two cases.)
Among the most severe punishments was a reprimand and five days’ docked pay for one officer, and a two-month demotion for another.
“This is an internal process that obviously is suffering a crisis of confidence,” said Toronto lawyer and vocal police critic Julian Falconer.
Falconer, who is representing Nobody in lawsuits against Blair, the Toronto Police Services Board and nine officers, including Andalib-Goortani, said the tribunal proceedings “are about the police, for the police and controlled by the police.”
He calls the penalties doled out so far “a relatively light slap on the wrist and out of whack with the impact these police excesses have had … on members of the public.”
Sukanya Pillay, executive director and general counsel of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, says “There is a feeling that there has been inadequate accountability.”
Toronto police spokesman Meaghan Gray contests those criticisms. Gray said Blair appointed an independent law firm to prosecute G20 tribunal matters and tapped retired judges to oversee all but three cases in which the charges were withdrawn prior to going to trial, “because of the importance of these cases and the compelling public interest associated with them.”
“For all cases, the process was undertaken specifically to address issues of legitimacy and transparency,” she said.
The Police Services Act, the provincial legislation that governs the tribunal process, gives the police chief the power to appoint the prosecutor and arbiter.
Gray said all allegations concerning the G20 were “investigated independently” by the Office of the Independent Police Review Director.
However, as OIPRD director Gerry McNeilly points out, despite the watchdog’s involvement in these investigations, his office does not have standing under the Police Services Act at tribunal hearings.
“I can’t correct any imbalance that I see,” said McNeilly. “I can’t put forward neutral positions . . . I have to stay quiet.”
Former SIU director Ian Scott said the low number of criminal charges can be attributed, in large part, to “big issues” the watchdog faced in attempting to identify officers who were wearing facemasks at the time and had removed their badges.
He said the nearly 100 officers docked a day’s pay for removing their identification “should have been subject to much more serious discipline.”
“This has the aura of complete unaccountability,” he said. “It was a very serious affair that was handled very lightly by the Toronto police.”
Scott also expressed concern about the fact that there is still no decision in the disciplinary hearing of the only upper-command officer to face misconduct charges.
Mired in delays, closing arguments in the misconduct tribunal of Supt. Mark Fenton were made last week — five years after he ordered the infamous “kettling” of dozens of citizens, most if not all of them innocent bystanders — at Queen St. W. and Spadina Ave. on the final day of the summit.
One other senior officer, Insp. Gary Meissner, faced discipline for ordering an early-morning raid and unlawful mass arrests at the University of Toronto — but he retired before a hearing could take place.
G20 numbers
With files from Wendy Gillis
91: Officers docked a day’s pay for removing their badges
23: Cases concerning G20 matters to be heard before a Toronto police disciplinary tribunal
31: Officers actually charged with misconduct in those cases
8: Officers convicted of misconduct
3: Convictions under appeal
1: Cases still waiting to be heard
Sources: Toronto Police Service; Toronto Star files, Office of the Independent Police Review Director
Police discipline: Three cases
Const. Babak Andalib-Goortani: The only officer convicted of criminal charges for using excessive force while arresting a G20 protester, Andalib-Goortani was charged after two probes by the Special Investigations Unit, eyewitness video and advocacy by the Star. His conviction was upheld on appeal but his jail sentence was overturned and replaced with probation and community service. Andalib-Goortani was acquitted of a second G20-related assault charge after a photograph presented as evidence — which appears to show an unidentified officer about to strike Torontoist blogger Wyndham Bettencourt-McCarthy — could not be authenticated and was thrown out in a pre-trial ruling.
Supt. David (Mark) Fenton: The only upper-command officer to face a police tribunal hearing for his actions during the G20, Fenton is charged with five counts of unlawful arrest and misconduct for his role in issuing controversial orders for police to blockade protesters in so-called “kettles” on two separate occasions. At his hearing in December, Fenton testified that he had received information that protesters were planning to come to Toronto to kill police officers, and that during the summit, “Toronto deteriorated into a sense of lawlessness.” Closing arguments in his case were heard this past week.
Sgt. Michael Ferry: Found to be “deliberately dishonest” about choking a compliant PhD student he arrested illegally, Ferry received one of the most serious penalties doled out so far in a police tribunal hearing related to the G20 — a two-month demotion to the rank of constable. “The tribunal must impose a penalty that denounces and deters groundless retaliatory arrests of civilians by any Toronto police officer,” Justice Lee Ferrier said. Ferry’s co-accused, Sgt. Douglas Rose, is appealing his conviction in the incident. He received a five-day suspension and a reprimand.
Source: thestar.com/
Author: Rachel Mendleson, Jayme Poisson
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