Kevin Walby
Title: Associate Professor
Phone: 204.786.9105
Office: 3C35B
Building: Centennial Hall
Email: k.walby@uwinnipeg.ca
CBC project reveals never-before-seen details of allegations of police wrongdoing
Fight to access information includes court challenges in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick
Police officers in Atlantic Canada are the subject of hundreds of complaints each year.
They come from members of the public and from internal sources within their own police departments. Allegations include neglect of duty, excessive force and racial profiling, to name a few examples.
The vast majority of the allegations against police officers are deemed unfounded or dismissed.
And in many cases, the public is allowed to know very little about how and why that happened.
That's why CBC's Atlantic investigative unit has launched a project called Police and Public Trust, which will take the public inside the opaque systems of police complaints and discipline across the region.
- 'Defund the police' calls in Canada began in 2020. Today, budgets continue to climb
- Committee tasked with defining 'defunding police' presents report to Halifax police commission
It comes at a time when police across North America are under scrutiny, with calls to "defund" the police growing in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd.
As police budgets continue to grow, Kevin Walby thinks police agencies should face growing accountability.
Kevin
Walby of the University of Winnipeg and director of the university's
Centre for Access to Information and Justice says the public deserves
access to information about police conduct. (Kevin Walby)
"Given the kinds of amazing or awesome powers of life and death that police have, the public deserves access to information regarding their conduct," said Walby, who teaches at the University of Winnipeg and serves as director of the Centre for Access to Information and Justice.
Complaints handled behind closed doors
For years, details of police complaints in New Brunswick, including complaints filed with the New Brunswick Police Commission, have only become public if the complaint can't be resolved behind closed doors.
The public process, called arbitration, was the result of just five per cent of 449 allegations made against municipal police officers between 2012 and 2019, according to data provided by municipal police forces in 2020. The commission only handles complaints involving municipal police agencies in New Brunswick because the RCMP has a separate complaint process.
During that same timeframe, nearly one in three allegations regarding an officer's conduct was marked for "no further action" because of insufficient evidence or because it was deemed to be unfounded, the data provided by police agencies shows.
Another 22 per cent were dismissed because the allegation was deemed to be frivolous or not made in good faith.
The allegations included abuse of authority, improper use and care of firearms, and discreditable conduct. Some complaints include more than one allegation.
Exact details of complaints unknown
Tom Stamatakis is the president of the Canadian Police Association, which represents 60,000 serving police officers in departments across the country.
He said the complaint systems in Canada are "very effective," though having different processes in different provinces, with more than one agency sometimes probing a complaint, can make things confusing for both officers and the public.
Based on the number of complaints that are substantiated across the country, and the number of interactions police have with the public in a given year, Stamatakis argued there are few officers with "persistent disciplinary issues or conduct issues."
"The focus often is just on that police officer," he said.
"But we should be looking beyond that. What contributed to that police officer having an interaction that resulted in this controversy?"
The
CBC News Atlantic investigative unit’s Police and Public Trust project
will take the public inside the opaque systems of police complaints and
discipline across the region. (Photo illustration: Duk Han Lee/CBC)
In most cases in New Brunswick, the exact details of the allegations made against police officers remain unknown, nor is it clear why some complainants' allegations have been deemed "frivolous" or not in good faith.
There's also no way to tell how many unique officers in the province have faced complaints, or whether any officers have faced multiple complaints over time.
Court battles
That's how the process works in one province, but gaps in what the public is allowed to know exist across the region.
CBC reporters filed access to information requests with 19 municipal police departments in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and with the provincial police force in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Requests were also filed with the three municipal police agencies on Prince Edward Island, which have only been subject to access to information laws since April 2019. That province's police commission posts some details of almost all of its complaints online, unlike other Atlantic provinces.
CBC has also asked the RCMP for details of complaints filed against officers in the four divisions across the Atlantic region.
The requests to the municipal police forces ask for data that goes back more than a decade.
"These are hugely important records for the public to be able to have access to because public police are really the only personnel representing the state in our society who have a kind of right to use violence," Walby said.
So far, in two provinces, CBC News has had to go to court to fight for the information.
In New Brunswick, CBC is in the early stages of its court case involving records held by the New Brunswick Police Commission, including details of investigations into complaints.
The court battle in Nova Scotia has produced records that have never been made public before.
The information obtained by CBC shows most public complaints in that province are ruled unsubstantiated, and some officers have been repeatedly disciplined.
Later this week, as part of the project Police and Public Trust, CBC will make those records available to the public.
Do you have a tip about this story? Please click here to get in touch with CBC's Atlantic Investigative Unit.
Surprise Surprise Surprise
Ottawa cop pleads guilty to criminal charges, resigns, gets house arrest and curfew
Staff Sgt. William Hinterberger paid a total salary of $428,274 from 2020 to 2022 while suspended
CBC News · Posted: Apr 18, 2023 11:12 AM ADT
Radio audio from police calling paramedics after Gray fell unconscious played at inquest
Rhianna Schmunk · CBC News · Posted: Apr 18, 2023 12:47 PM ADT
"The first of several Vancouver police officers involved in the beating death of an unarmed man in Burnaby, B.C., took the stand at a coroner's inquest Tuesday, becoming the only member of the force to speak publicly about the case in more than seven years."
"The ensuing confrontation between Gray, Sahota and her backup left the man with injuries so extensive, forensic experts could not determine a cause of death — a fractured eye socket, broken bones, a crushed voice box, brain hemorrhaging and a ruptured testicle.
The coroner's inquest that began this week is seeking to determine the facts around his death, not place blame, and make recommendations to prevent similar deaths in the future.
The remaining officers involved in the case will take the stand in the coming days."
"Sahota was among the officers who did not initially co-operate with B.C.'s independent police watchdog as it examined Gray's case. She agreed to a second interview after the Independent Investigations Office of B.C. filed a court petition to compel her co-operation as a witness to Gray's death — not as a suspect."
"The B.C. Prosecution Service declined to approve criminal charges against the officers in 2020, saying they were the only eyewitnesses to the man's death and offered accounts described as incomplete and sometimes inconsistent."
Fair enough. But I hope you'd agree that in the case of complaints, it's a problem when that process is managed by the police themselves
Since when is due process, paid administrative leave until they retire and get the charges dropped?
Reply to Jason Macendale
That's why they're paid unless convicted and/or
dismissed. Perhaps they should be required to reimburse the public purse
if/when found guilty. That would be proper accountability, right?
Reply to Larry McCarthy
well how's things in the ivory tower today?
Because of the Police Acts governments have legislated, police are kept on paid leave for years. In any other type of employment, including unionized, employees would be terminated swiftly for the types of egregious acts committed.
Cops who've broken the law, especially so for a criminal convictions, should be terminated.
Are there some problems in policing? Yes, of course there are. Just like there are problems in Health Care, Education, the Hospitality & Tourism industry, etc., etc. Policing is of course different because these are the people we expect to uphold our laws and protect our society, so it is especially grievous when those entrusted people fail to rise to the level we expect, or worse yet, violate those laws themselves.
That said, these are all societal problems. To say it is a "problem in policing" is a cop out and a failure to see the root of the problems we face together as a society.
We are seeing a lack of basic common respect and decency rising along with the rapid pace of technological advancement - not to say there is a causal relationship there, but I do think it's more than coincidence. There is a growing societal breakdown that also impacts things like a sense of deference for the authority of "the state". Of course, this has been largely due to successive generations of corrupt politicians (a small minority, granted, but it only takes one or two to taint an entire system) and the never ending drive among the wealthy to generate more wealth. We have 90% of the wealth controlled by 1% of the people, life is getting harder and seemingly less and less fair. Societal problems - we could all go on and on listing them.
Yes of course these bleed over into policing.
But if anyone thinks "defunding police" or turning the gaze of public scrutiny upon police so we can all see into every dark corner is going to solve anything, we're kidding ourselves.
If we want a better society we need to all look at ourselves and the society we build. That's how we change things.
Reply to Kevin Trudeau
With heightened public awareness, oversight, social media, security cameras and other recording devices, what actually do police officers believe that they can get away with? Apparently, whatever they want to.
Now, at last, to the part about cracking corn. That was a very old piece of slang for sitting around idly gossiping.
A more likely explanation is that Jimmy cracked open a jug of his late master’s corn whiskey and kicked back a bit.
Either way, nobody cared because the master was gone away and wouldn’t be coming back.
Cracking police complaints
Nova Scotians filed hundreds of complaints alleging police misconduct over the last decade. The public never knew what happened to most of them until a CBC investigation found out.
Police and Public Trust, a CBC News Atlantic Investigative Unit project, scrutinizes the largely off-limits police complaint and discipline systems across the region. Journalists are using access to information laws, and in some cases court challenges, to obtain discipline records and data.
Over the last 12 years, 55 Nova Scotia municipal police officers were repeatedly disciplined for misconduct following investigations in their own departments, CBC News has learned.
The numbers come from a CBC News analysis of more than a decade of data provided by the Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner (OPCC), an arms-length provincial agency tasked with accepting, tracking and investigating complaints from the public about police officers.
The office’s mission statement is to “maintain public confidence” in municipal police through the complaints process.
The OPCC provided data from 941 files, which each represent a complaint against one or more officers. Some complaints contain multiple allegations against multiple officers.
The data has never been examined in such detail before, even by the OPCC. Seeking a better understanding of misconduct and discipline, CBC wanted to go beyond the annual statistics available from the OPCC and study the files — complaint by complaint.
“I think sometimes police executives don’t even know what’s happening in their police services,” said Kevin Walby, an associate professor of criminal justice at the University of Winnipeg, and director of the university’s Centre for Access to Information and Justice.
“They’re probably just as unaware of some of the trends as the general public is, because maybe they’re not even collecting the data in a diligent way.”
CBC’s findings include that certain officers were repeatedly disciplined, that the most common forms of discipline were fines or reprimands, and that investigators ruled the vast majority of public complaints invalid.
The most common accusations against officers included discourtesy, neglect of duty, or excessive force.
Kevin
Walby is an associate professor of criminal justice at the University
of Winnipeg, and the director of the university’s Centre for Access to
Information and Justice. (Kevin Walby)
Some experts told CBC News they think these types of outcomes suggest a need for more transparency in the complaint process, or that the entire process is flawed – concerns that echo findings of a 2019 report that found street checks in Halifax were disproportionately used on Black citizens.
In recent years, there have been calls in many cities across Canada to “defund” police budgets. A key part of that discussion is trust and public perception of police, which is particularly low among Black and Indigenous communities.
Walby said he believes information about complaints against officers should be available for the public to monitor for concerning trends.
“If a police officer is routinely causing harm in a community or in a neighborhood, and these kinds of records show that, then the whole point is to be able to know,” he said.
“With greater budgets, I think should come greater scrutiny, greater accountability.”
More than 900 files
In June 2022, CBC News made a freedom of information request to the OPCC for a dataset of every police discipline decision made by municipal police departments in Nova Scotia between 2010 and 2021.
In addition to tracking complaints from the public, the OPCC also keeps track of internal discipline cases where officers complain about other officers. These complaints were included in the data.
The numbers do not include RCMP officers, who have a separate federal complaints process.
There are 676 officers represented in the dataset [download the 139kb .csv file]. No names were included in the information, but each officer was assigned a unique identifying number, which showed that 55 officers had been disciplined more than once by their departments following either a public or internal complaint.
Select for annotations.
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[Not seeing the chart on mobile? Access the story on a desktop computer or a tablet.]
Agencies that fulfilled CBC’s freedom of information request withheld the identities of officers to protect their privacy, which CBC agreed with to facilitate faster disclosure. Names of complainants were also protected for privacy.
33 officers had two instances of misconduct. There were 21 officers who had been disciplined between three and five times.
One officer who was dismissed from the Halifax Regional Police in 2017 had nine findings of misconduct from a combination of public and internal complaints spanning several years.
142 officers had a single finding of misconduct from either a public or an internal complaint.
Under the province’s Police Act regulations, an officer who is disciplined has it wiped from their service record if he or she has no further penalties for one to three years, depending on the offence.
The kinds of complaints that are handled by the OPCC usually aren’t enough to justify a criminal charge or a Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) investigation, but they can still have serious consequences.
The most common types of complaints against Nova Scotia police
Officers who were disciplined in the data obtained by CBC faced a wide variety of punishments, including verbal or written reprimands, counseling or training, or a fine of a certain number of hours or days of pay.
The most commonly used methods of discipline were fines and reprimands.
Some less common but more severe consequences included a transfer to a different unit, a demotion in rank, or, as was the case for 11 officers in the dataset, dismissal.
The majority of complaints were not substantiated and those officers did not face discipline.
'Context is important'
“Allegations regarding officer misconduct are disconcerting and we take them very seriously,” the Nova Scotia Chiefs of Police Association (NSCPA) told CBC News in an emailed statement.
“We expect officers to act in a professional manner and the overwhelming majority of officers take great pride in their role and duties.”
CBC News reached out to several municipal chiefs and to the Nova Scotia Chiefs of Police Association asking for an interview about the complaints system, how departments handle officers who are repeatedly disciplined for misconduct, and how this interacts with public confidence in policing.
Individual chiefs referred CBC News to the NSCPA. In its statement, the NSCPA pointed to the Nova Scotia Police Act, which governs officer ethics and the complaints process.
“It is not only about discipline, but also an opportunity to improve behaviours through awareness, education and training,” the NSCPA said of the act.
“It is important to remember that complaints do not necessarily correlate to a need for concern about police misconduct; the majority of complaints are proven unfounded.”
Halifax resident Lou Campbell
was one of many people to speak against a proposed $6 million increase
to Halifax Regional Police's budget on Jan. 17, 2023. (Haley Ryan/CBC)
Tom Stamatakis, the president of the Canadian Police Association, which represents 60,000 serving police officers in departments across the country, pointed out that any repeat offences must be seen in the context of all other interactions.
“You’ll see that in fact there are very few officers that you can describe as having persistent disciplinary issues or conduct issues,” Stamatakis told CBC News. “I’m not saying that there aren’t any, but I think context is important.”
Stamatakis said in his own experience with the Vancouver Police Union, most officers who had a finding of misconduct learned from their mistake and did not reoffend.
Tom Stamatakis is the president of the Canadian Police Association. (Mike Zimmer/CBC)
It’s also important to ask why misconduct offences are happening and to examine the systems set up within the police organization, he said.
“What’s the organization doing about those situations? Are they providing those members with the right kind of training and guidance and coaching and mentoring?” he said.
At the same time, the organization needs to ensure its response is progressive and appropriate, he said, and determine whether the situation is a mistake or one that should end that person’s policing career.
Keeping the public trust
The police complaints system is meant to ensure police officers are accountable to the communities they serve, said Alok Mukherjee, a former chair of the Toronto Police Services Board.
Mukherjee has held positions on civilian police oversight bodies at the provincial and national levels. He recently chaired a panel of experts providing advice on restoring community confidence in the Thunder Bay Police after that agency faced investigations into criminal misconduct, concerns about how it investigated 14 deaths of Indigenous people, and multiple human rights complaints from officers.
Mukherjee says many in the public have asked for an independent public complaint system because they feel it will lead to greater trust in policing.
“It’s a serious issue,” he said. “People do not trust that the police will investigate themselves with the kind of thoroughness, integrity, reliability that an external agency might do.”
Alok Mukherjee was the chair of the Toronto Police Services Board from 2005 to 2015. (CBC)
Though the OPCC is an independent provincial agency, under Nova Scotia’s Police Act the investigation and the decision on whether an officer’s conduct was justified is done by police.
Under provincial regulations, the investigator is usually a senior officer in the same department as the accused officer.
The process is complex and may stretch over several years if it goes to an appeal.
Nova Scotia civilian complaint process
How to file a complaint, appeal a decision, and the options available to complainants.
- The complainant must file a complaint form within one year of the incident.
- The complainant must send the complaint form to the Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner (“OPCC”)
- An officer is appointed to the file.
- The officer will contact the complainant to discuss the case before making their decision. If there is an informal resolution, the process is complete. If not, proceed.
- The officer will investigate the complaint (the investigation must be completed within 60 days from the date the complaint form was filed) and make a decision.
- The complainant will receive notice of the investigator’s decision. If the complainant is satisfied with the decision, the process is complete. If not, proceed.
- The complainant must file a Notice of Review with the OPCC within 30 days of the receipt of the decision.
- The OPCC will attempt to resolve the complaint (this requires the consent of the involved officer and the complainant).If the complaint is resolved, the process is complete. If not, proceed.
- If unable to resolve the complaint, the OPCC may conduct an independent investigation. If the investigation concludes that the complaint should be dismissed, the process is complete. In this case, if the complainant is unsatisfied with the decision they may pursue legal alternatives. If the OPCC’s investigation concludes that the complaint should be forwarded to the Police Review Board. Proceed to 10.
- A 3-member panel will conduct a public hearing (the complainant will be notified of the time and date and can bring legal representation if they choose; if the complainant does not have legal representation, the OPCC will provide assistance preparing for the hearing).
- After the public hearing if the complainant is satisfied with the decision the process is complete. If the complainant is unsatisfied with the decision, they may pursue legal alternatives.
A
flowchart describing the police complaint process for civilians in Nova
Scotia. The original source is: 'Defunding the Police: Defining the Way
Forward for HRM,' a report released Jan. 17, 2022, by Tari Ajadi, Harry
Critchley, El Jones, Julia Rodgers. (CBC)
Through freedom of information, CBC News obtained 187 samples of decisions made by senior officers from different municipal police departments. Each short report summarized one complaint, the evidence and the discipline decision.
Nine out of 10 police departments were willing to disclose the records, or said they didn’t have any due to their file-retention policy. One department — the Halifax Regional Police — refused to release the records until CBC News challenged that decision in court (CBC News has since received redacted records but is continuing its court appeal over those redactions).
CBC News is making all of the decisions available to the public.
There were a range of complaints: some people alleged they were assaulted by police or they’d been racially profiled. One person filed a complaint after becoming the mistaken target of a high-risk traffic stop at gunpoint. Other complaints were minor, such as a person who thought an officer hadn’t properly investigated a neighbour’s pet making too much noise.
In general, the senior officers tasked with handling the complaints interviewed everyone involved, reviewed officer notes and documents, looked at video and audio recordings if they were available, and read the relevant department policy or law.
Based on the evidence they had, the senior officers made judgment calls about who they found more credible and the possible motivations behind those people’s actions.
What a public complaint decision document looks like
The public complaint decision documents, or form 11s, released to CBC News via access to information, have never before been seen by the public. They’re also often heavily redacted.
94% of public complaints unsubstantiated
Over the 11 years of data from the OPCC, CBC News counted 1,077 accusations against individual officers from members of the public. Of those, six per cent — or 67 complaints against officers — were substantiated or partially substantiated by police investigators. The other 94 per cent were dismissed as “unsubstantiated.”
Substantiated means police were able to find enough evidence to support the allegations and the investigator ruled the complaint was valid. In the cases of substantiated or partially substantiated complaints, some discipline was applied.
Over the same period, there were 352 internal complaints filed by officers against other officers. Roughly 62 per cent, or 219 of these complaints, were substantiated or partially substantiated.
Mukherjee said about 90 per cent of public complaints were dismissed in his experience at the Toronto Police Service, and he questions whether some legitimate concerns were among those.
When I look at the data which says that over 90 per cent of the complaints are not going forward, there’s something the matter with the system.
“Now there may be minor complaints such as incivility, rude behavior, etc., where somebody says, ‘I’m sorry, we apologize and that’s the end of the matter,’” he said.
“But a lot of the public complaints are not that minor. So when I look at the data which says that over 90 per cent of the complaints are not going forward, there’s something the matter with the system.”
However, Stamatakis of the Canadian Police Association points out police are often in “difficult situations.” He says if this leads to someone being hurt or killed, it’s not surprising someone would file a complaint, but the investigators have to limit themselves to evidence of misconduct.
“Because the process is not about getting the outcome you want. The process should be about what happened, what is the evidence in the context of the laws that exist in this country,” he said. “And if the actions of the officer were lawful and appropriate in the circumstances, then you’re not going to get a substantiation.”
The
Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner provided data from 941
files, which each represent a complaint against one or more officers.
(Duk Han Lee/CBC)
Stamatakis said he believes police services and oversight bodies need to do a better job of explaining complaints and their outcomes to the public, because a lack of trust undermines the legitimacy of police.
He believes this can be achieved through strong, independent oversight so the public can be satisfied the investigations are thorough, he said.
“In my mind that’s how you manage some of the concerns that have been expressed by different individuals or groups,” he said.
He adds this would also benefit police officers who face complaints.
“They need to be confident that their investigation’s going to be conducted thoroughly, independently, that they’re not going to be subject to some internal bias that might be in place that could have a negative impact on them,” he said.
‘It’s the nature of what we do’
The president of the union that represents Halifax police officers says he’s generally satisfied with the current level of oversight in Nova Scotia.
While discipline decisions are made by senior officers, Dean Stienburg says people who aren’t satisfied with the outcome have the option to appeal to a Police Review Board, comprised of people appointed by the province.
Members
of the Nova Scotia Police Review Board prepare to begin a hearing in
Dartmouth, N.S. The panel was listening to the appeal of a police
discipline decision on Nov. 23, 2022 (Robert Short/CBC)
Stienburg acknowledges an appeal could take up to four years, which is one of the main problems he says he sees with the complaints system.
“I don’t think that’s good for anyone. I don’t think it’s good for the person who made the complaint because this is something that clearly bothers them if they’ve gone to the extent to make a complaint,” he said.
“I can assure you it’s not good for the police officers because it does hang over their head.”
Out of the hundreds of public complaints examined by CBC News, the majority never went on to an appeal stage before the Police Review Board.
According to OPCC annual reports, between 2010-2021 fewer than 40 public complaints were referred to the review board.
However, Stienburg says the public should still trust the process.
“The public should have confidence in it because at the end of the day, there is always the possibility that that [Police Review Board] review is going to occur,” he said.
WATCH | Union president isn’t surprised by number of unsubstantiated complaints:
Dean Stienburg, the president of the Halifax Regional Police Association, spoke with CBC about his view of the complaints system, and why he’s not surprised to see a large number of unsubstantiated public complaints.
It would be “naive” not to think that some complaints against officers may be malicious, or an attempt for a complainant to bargain their way out of a criminal charge, Stienburg said.
However, he said in general police officers understand the need for a high standard of accountability for their actions.
“I think that officers absolutely expect that people are going to complain. It’s the nature of what we do,” he said.
‘The results raise questions in the public mind’
Mukherjee said he believes the entire system of police complaints and discipline in Canada is faulty.
He argues it’s inefficient, expensive, time-consuming, and doesn’t properly balance the interests of officers and public complainants. He doesn’t think it’s an effective deterrence for bad behaviour.
And governments hold the power to change it, he said.
“The results raise questions in the public mind about the effectiveness of these systems,” Mukherjee said. “So the question is, do our governments think that having the system itself is enough?”
“Or are they serious about making sure that the systems actually work to produce the results that the public is looking for?”
In 2019, criminologist Scot Wortley found that Black citizens in Halifax were disproportionately affected by police street checks. One of his recommendations was that a committee should be set up to “study the strength and integrity of the current police complaints process.”
Criminologist
Scot Wortley presents his findings on the issue of police street checks
in Halifax on March 27, 2019. (Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press)
People who spoke to Wortley told him they had little confidence in the complaints process and felt it was “unfair and biased in favour of the police.” The Wortley report included stories from people who told the researchers they felt they had not been believed and would never again file a police complaint.
Nova Scotia Justice Minister Brad Johns said there’s always room for improvement, but overall he is “quite satisfied” that the complaint system is working as it should.
“There are a number of recommendations that came out of the Wortley report and we have started to implement some of those,” he told CBC News.
The department has extended the length of time people have to file complaints from six months to one year. The OPCC commissioner has authority to extend that limit further if necessary.
Justice Minister Brad Johns stands in his office on Hollis Street in Halifax. (Brian MacKay/CBC)
“We’re not there yet,” Johns said of the recommendation to set up a committee to examine the complaints process. He said the department hopes to do this in mid-summer or early fall of 2023, and he believes it could be six months to a year before that committee could return recommendations to him.
Johns acknowledged feedback in the Wortley report from people who said they didn’t have trust in the system.
“The department and the commission, I think, have done things, recommendations, through the Wortley report to try to address and build up some of that confidence,” he said.
“We’ll take all of those recommendations and continue to strive to get the best system that we can.”
CBC’s series 'Police and Public Trust' takes a closer look at various aspects of the complaints system. (Duk Han Lee/CBC)
Complaint decisions made by police and processed by OPCC, 2010-2021
APD - Amherst Police Department / ARPS - Annapolis Royal Police Department / BPS - Bridgewater Police Service / CBRPS - Cape Breton Regional Police Service / HRP - Halifax Regional Police / KPS - Kentville Police Service / NGRP - New Glasgow Regional Police / Springhill - Springhill Police Service / SPS - Stellarton Police Service / TPS - Truro Police Service / WPS - Westville Police Service
| File #: | P / I | Dept. | Officer No. | Date of allegation | Allegation | Outcome | Sustained/not Sustained | Date resolved | Discipline |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10-3 | P | HRP | 394 | January 11, 2010 | 24(1)(a), 24 (3)(b), 24(6)(b), 24(6)(c) | Form 11 | Not Sustained | November 29, 2010 | |
| 10-6 | P | APD | 1100 | January 15, 2010 | 24(3)(a), 24(1)(a) | Form 11 | Not Sustained | February 2, 2010 | |
| 10-7 | P | APD | 1100 | January 18, 2010 | 24(1)(a) | Form 11 | Not Sustained | May 10, 2010 | |
| 920 | January 18, 2010 | 24(1)(a) | Form 11 | Not Sustained | May 10, 2010 | ||||
| 10-8 | P | HRP | 315 | January 19, 2010 | 24(1)(a), 24(5)(a) | Form 11 | Not Sustained | April 6, 2010 | |
| 10-10 | I | HRP | 836 | January 19, 2010 | 24(1)(a), 24(9)(a), 24(9)(b) | Form 12 | Sustained, in part | August 19, 2010 | 24(9)(a) and 24(9)(b) - Restitution $840 |
| 10-12 | I | SPS | 645 | January 26, 2010 | 24(4)(a) | Form 12 | Not Sustained | May 10, 2010 | |
| 10-13 | I | HRP | 10 | February 8, 2010 | 24(3)(a), 24(3)(d) | Form 12 | Sustained, in part | October 21, 2010 | 24(3)(a) - Reprimand, complete disposition of property |
| 10-14 | P | TPS | 1315 | February 14, 2010 | conduct unbecoming | Form 11 | Not Sustained | April 14, 2010 | |
| 1112 | February 14, 2010 | conduct unbecoming | Form 11 | Not Sustained | April 14, 2010 |
Writer: Shaina Luck | Editor: Natalie Stechyson | Visual Producer: David Irish | Photo illustrations: Duk Han Lee | Data analysis assistance: Tara Carman and Naël Shiab
Information Morning - Cape Breton with Steve Sutherland
Programming
Meredith Dellandrea, Senior Managing Director for Atlantic Canada and Quebec
Ian Brimacombe, Managing Editor for Nova Scotia
ian.brimacombe@cbc.ca
Ken MacIntosh, Executive Producer of News and Current Affairs for Nova Scotia
ken.macintosh@cbc.ca
Communications
Jill Thomas Myrick, Regional Manager - Communications, Marketing & Brand: (902) 420-4223
Chantal Bernard, Senior Communications Officer: (902) 420-4376 chantal.bernard@cbc.ca
Greg Guy, Senior Communications Officer: (902) 420-4302 greg.guy@cbc.ca
266 7020
Fwd: Methinks it is high time that the Ethics Commissioners Mary Dawson and Diane Girard and the Board of Directors of CBC finally sat up and paid attention N'esy Pas Prime Minister Trudeau "The Younger" and Minister Joly?
David Amos<david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com> |  Wed, Nov 6, 2019 at 3:46 PM | ||||||||||
| To: meredith.dellandrea@cbc.ca, Alex.Johnston@cbc.ca, jesse@viafoura.com, "robert.gauvin" <robert.gauvin@gnb.ca>, rfife <rfife@globeandmail.com> | |||||||||||
| Cc: motomaniac333 <motomaniac333@gmail.com>, jesse@jessebrown.ca, news919@rogers.com, nancy.waugh@cbc.ca, Greg.Guy@cbc.ca, Chantal.Bernard@cbc.ca, ken.macintosh@cbc.ca, "steve.murphy" <steve.murphy@ctv.ca> | |||||||||||
Meredith Dellandrea 514 597 4418 ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail. Date: Wed, 6 Nov 2019 09:53:52 -0400 Subject: Fwd: Methinks it is high time that the Ethics Commissioners Mary Dawson and Diane Girard and the Board of Directors of CBC finally sat up and paid attention N'esy Pas Prime Minister Trudeau "The Younger" and Minister Joly? To: ombud@cbc.ca, Commissioner@cbc.ca, info.conted@mcgill.ca, "Mario.Dion" <Mario.Dion@cie.parl.gc.ca>, "Chuck.Thompson" <Chuck.Thompson@cbc.ca>, "Catherine.Tait" <Catherine.Tait@cbc.ca>, "sylvie.gadoury" <sylvie.gadoury@radio-canada. <premier@ontario.ca>, Newsroom <Newsroom@globeandmail.com>, "Friday.Joe" <Friday.Joe@psic-ispc.gc.ca> Cc: motomaniac333 <motomaniac333@gmail.com>, "pablo.rodriguez" <pablo.rodriguez@parl.gc.ca>, "Gerald.Butts" <Gerald.Butts@pmo-cpm.gc.ca>, pm <pm@pm.gc.ca> https://www.mcgill.ca/ École d'éducation permanente 688, rue Sherbrooke Ouest, 11e étage Montréal (Québec), Canada H3A 3R1 Contactez nous 514-398-6200 info.conted@mcgill.ca Values and Ethics Commissioner Maison de Radio-Canada, Montreal 1400 René-Lévesque Boulevard East P.O. Box 6000 Montreal QC H2L 2M2 Phone: (514) 597-6000 CBC Ombudsman P.O. Box 500 Station A Toronto, Ontario M5W 1E6 Phone: 416 205-2978 Email: ombud@cbc.ca https://cbc.radio-canada.ca/ Diane Girard was appointed as the Corporation’s first Values and Ethics Commissioner on September 19, 2016. Before her nomination as Commissioner, Ms. Girard practised as an ethics consultant for organizations from the public, private and professional sectors for 20 years. A recognized authority in the field of organizational ethics, she has published numerous book chapters and articles on the subject. She also lectured for 15 years in business and organizational ethics at McGill University, and taught similar courses at Laval University, Université de Sherbrooke and HEC Montréal. Diane holds a master’s degree in business administration (MBA), a master’s degree in law and a postgraduate diploma in applied ethics. She also completed a PhD in management and ethics at HEC Montréal. She is the founder and past president of the Quebec Organizational Ethics Network (RÉOQ). She sat on the board of the Ethics Practitioners' Association of Canada (1999 -2003), and served as its Quebec regional coordinator in a volunteer capacity for 13 years. She also sat on the board of the Canadian Human Rights Foundation for a few years. Mandate Our Code of Conduct and the related policies (namely the policies on Conflict of Interest, Anti-Discrimination and Harassment, Political Activity, Disclosure of Wrongdoing, and Fraud and Theft) outline the broad range of values, expected behaviours, and standards of integrity and business conduct that guide our employees at all levels. The Commissioner’s mandate has three main components: Advisory – providing information, advice and guidance to employees about their own situations, their concerns about values and ethics, and the application of certain key policies; developing and managing our ethics program Educational – developing and managing values and ethics training; promoting ethical awareness Investigative – responding to concerns or complaints submitted by employees; dealing with complaints from members of the public regarding compliance with the Code of Conduct and related policies by our employees; acting as designated Senior Officer for the Policy on the Disclosure of Wrongdoings (Whistleblower Policy). (Note: Complaints regarding the Journalistic Standards and Practices should be sent to the Ombudsman.) ---------- Original message ---------- From: Premier of Ontario | Première ministre de l’Ontario <Premier@ontario.ca> Date: Fri, 22 Dec 2017 13:43:10 +0000 Subject: Automatic reply: Methinks it is high time that the Ethics Commissioners Mary Dawson and Diane Girard and the Board of Directors of CBC finally sat up and paid attention N'esy Pas Prime Minister Trudeau "The Younger" and Minister Joly? To: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com> Thanks for your email. I value your input and appreciate your taking the time to get in touch with me. Every email and letter I receive is carefully read and reviewed. Given the volume of emails and letters I receive, and because I may need to share your message with one of my Cabinet ministers or the appropriate government officials for more information, a response may take several business days. Thanks again for contacting me. Kathleen Wynne Premier Please note that we are not able to receive replies at this email address, so please do not respond directly to this email. * * * Je vous remercie de votre courriel. Votre avis est important pour moi et je vous suis reconnaissante d’avoir pris le temps de m’écrire. Toutes les lettres et tous les courriels que je reçois sont lus attentivement, un par un. Sachez, cependant, qu’en raison du volume important de correspondance que je reçois et parce qu’il se peut que j’aie à consulter l’un de mes collègues du Conseil des ministres ou un fonctionnaire compétent en la matière, il pourrait s’écouler plusieurs jours avant que je puisse donner suite à votre courriel. Meilleures salutations, Kathleen Wynne Première ministre de l’Ontario Veuillez ne pas répondre directement à ce courriel, car aucun courriel ne peut être reçu à cette adresse. ---------- Original message ---------- From: "MinFinance / FinanceMin (FIN)" <fin.minfinance-financemin. Date: Fri, 22 Dec 2017 13:44:32 +0000 Subject: RE: Methinks it is high time that the Ethics Commissioners Mary Dawson and Diane Girard and the Board of Directors of CBC finally sat up and paid attention N'esy Pas Prime Minister Trudeau "The Younger" and Minister Joly? To: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com> The Department of Finance acknowledges receipt of your electronic correspondence. Please be assured that we appreciate receiving your comments. Le ministère des Finances accuse réception de votre correspondance électronique. Soyez assuré(e) que nous apprécions recevoir vos commentaires. ---------- Original message ---------- From: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com> Date: Fri, 22 Dec 2017 09:43:02 -0400 Subject: Methinks it is high time that the Ethics Commissioners Mary Dawson and Diane Girard and the Board of Directors of CBC finally sat up and paid attention N'esy Pas Prime Minister Trudeau "The Younger" and Minister Joly? To: "mary.dawson" <mary.dawson@cie.parl.gc.ca>, Commissioner@cbc.ca, "ht.lacroix" <ht.lacroix@cbc.ca>, "sylvie.gadoury" <sylvie.gadoury@radio-canada. <Alex.Johnston@cbc.ca>, "martine.turcotte" <martine.turcotte@bell.ca>, "mirko.bibic" <mirko.bibic@bell.ca>, "remi.racine" <remi.racine@bhvr.com>, jesse <jesse@viafoura.com>, premier <premier@gnb.ca>, premier <premier@gov.ab.ca>, premier <premier@gov.pe.ca>, premier <premier@gov.bc.ca>, PREMIER <PREMIER@gov.ns.ca>, premier <premier@gov.nt.ca>, premier <premier@gov.yk.ca>, premier <premier@gov.nl.ca>, premier <premier@leg.gov.mb.ca>, premier <premier@gov.sk.ca>, "premier.ministre" <premier.ministre@cex.gouv.qc. <premier@ontario.ca>, "ralph.goodale" <ralph.goodale@parl.gc.ca>, "hon.ralph.goodale" <hon.ralph.goodale@canada.ca>, "hon.melanie.joly" <hon.melanie.joly@canada.ca>, "Bill.Morneau" <Bill.Morneau@canada.ca>, pm <pm@pm.gc.ca>, "Gerald.Butts" <Gerald.Butts@pmo-cpm.gc.ca>, "Michael.Wernick" <Michael.Wernick@pco-bcp.gc.ca <Paul.Shuttle@pco-bcp.gc.ca>, "andrew.scheer" <andrew.scheer@parl.gc.ca>, "guy.caron" <guy.caron@parl.gc.ca>, leader <leader@greenparty.ca>, "David.Coon" <David.Coon@gnb.ca>, oldmaison <oldmaison@yahoo.com>, andre <andre@jafaust.com>, jbosnitch <jbosnitch@gmail.com>, mcu <mcu@justice.gc.ca>, "Jody.Wilson-Raybould" <Jody.Wilson-Raybould@parl.gc. <jan.jensen@justice.gc.ca>, "bill.pentney" <bill.pentney@justice.gc.ca>, "Nathalie.Drouin" <Nathalie.Drouin@justice.gc.ca <paul.adams@ppsc-sppc.gc.ca> Cc: David Amos <david.raymond.amos@gmail.com> <ethics-ethique@rcmp-grc.gc.ca <Liliana.Longo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca> <Larry.Tremblay@rcmp-grc.gc.ca <Gilles.Blinn@rcmp-grc.gc.ca>, "Gilles.Moreau" <Gilles.Moreau@forces.gc.ca>, "dan. bussieres" <dan.bussieres@gnb.ca>, "martin.gaudet" <martin.gaudet@fredericton.ca> <gopublic@cbc.ca>, investigations <investigations@cbc.ca>, nmoore <nmoore@bellmedia.ca>, "steve.murphy" <steve.murphy@ctv.ca>, "jeremy.keefe" <jeremy.keefe@globalnews.ca>, "David.Akin" <David.Akin@globalnews.ca>, "darrow.macintyre" <darrow.macintyre@cbc.ca>, "Dave.Young" <Dave.Young@nbeub.ca>, "hance.colburne" <hance.colburne@cbc.ca>, "Jacques.Poitras" <Jacques.Poitras@cbc.ca>, "terry.seguin" <terry.seguin@cbc.ca>, "Paul.Harpelle" <Paul.Harpelle@gnb.ca>, briangallant10 <briangallant10@gmail.com>, BrianThomasMacdonald <BrianThomasMacdonald@gmail. <Dominic.Cardy@gnb.ca> Methinks politicking in the Maritmes is no longer boring N'esy Pas David Coon and Chucky Leblanc? https://www.youtube.com/watch? New Brunswick Premier Brian Gallant sits down for end of the year interview!!!! Charles Leblanc Published on Dec 21, 2017 http://davidraymondamos3. Thursday, 21 December 2017 How boring is politicking in the Maritimes when a Green Meanie Leader gets booted out of the House and nobody cares? http://www.cbc.radio-canada. Values and Ethics Commissioner Diane Girard was appointed as the Corporation’s first Values and Ethics Commissioner on September 19th, 2016. Her role is to provide employees with guidance and support on ethics matters, be a point of contact for concerns and complaints regarding the Code of Conduct and related policies, as well as develop and manage the Corporation’s ethics program. Before her nomination as Commissioner, Ms. Girard practised as an ethics consultant for organizations from the public, private and professional sectors for 20 years. Prior to that, as a trained lawyer, she practised labour law for many years. A recognized authority in the field of organizational ethics, she has published numerous book chapters and articles in such journals as Gestion and Éthique publique. She also conducted a two year study on practices in organizational ethics in Québec, with 107 participant organizations of the private, public and health sectors. Helping managers and employees develop their ethical leadership and capabilities has always been important for Ms. Girard, which is why she lectured for 15 years in business and organizational ethics at McGill University, and also taught similar courses at Laval University and Université de Sherbrooke. Ms. Girard holds a master’s degree in business administration (MBA), a master’s degree in law and a postgraduate diploma in applied ethics. She also completed a PhD in management and ethics at HEC Montréal. She is the founder and past president of the Quebec Organizational Ethics Network (RÉOQ). She sat on the board of the Ethics Practitioners' Association of Canada (1999 -2003), and served as its Quebec regional coordinator in a volunteer capacity for 13 years. She also sat on the board of the Canadian Human Rights Foundation for a few years Mandate CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada’s national public broadcaster and one of its largest cultural institutions. In the fulfillment of this critical role, the Corporation’s Code of Conduct and other related policies (namely policies on Conflict of Interest, Anti-Discrimination and Harassment, Political Activity, Disclosure of Wrongdoing, and Fraud and Theft) outline the broad range of values, expected behaviours, and standards of integrity and business conduct that guide employees at all levels. CBC/Radio-Canada has created the Values and Ethics Commissioner position to nurture an ethical environment. The Commissioner is neutral and independent. To ensure this independence and neutrality, the Commissioner has a direct reporting line to the CEO. The Commissioner’s mandate has three main components: Advisory Role The Commissioner provides information, advice and guidance to all employees about their own situations and their concerns regarding values and ethics, namely regarding the Code of Conduct and other related policies governing ethical behaviour, other than the Journalistic Standards and Practices. The Commissioner is responsible for the development and management of the Corporation’s ethics program. She also periodically evaluates the ethical culture and climate of the organization, and makes recommendations. Educational Role The Commissioner contributes to the development and implementation of values and ethics training, providing opportunities for awareness and learning regarding such topics as ethics responsibilities, ethical issues and ethical decision-making. Investigative Role Concerns or complaints relating to values and ethics can be submitted directly to the Commissioner’s office by employees. Other than those relating to the Journalistic Standards and Practices. The Commissioner also acts as the designated Senior Officer for the Corporation’s Policy on the Disclosure of Wrongdoings (Whistleblower Policy). She is also the point of contact for members of the public who have reason to believe that a CBC/Radio-Canada employee is not complying with our Code of Conduct or related policies, except for complaints regarding the Journalistic Standards and Practices, which are covered by the Ombudsmen. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Newsroom <newsroom@globeandmail.com> Date: Fri, 22 Dec 2017 12:20:42 +0000 Subject: Automatic reply: YO Alex Johnston can you please explain this notice from CBC to me real slow? To: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com> Thank you for contacting The Globe and Mail. If your matter pertains to newspaper delivery or you require technical support, please contact our Customer Service department at 1-800-387-5400 or send an email to customerservice@globeandmail. If you are reporting a factual error please forward your email to publiceditor@globeandmail.com< Letters to the Editor can be sent to letters@globeandmail.com This is the correct email address for requests for news coverage and press releases
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Inside the fight to make Halifax police discipline records public
Halifax Regional Police say releasing records could endanger officers, invade privacy
When it comes to the way police forces interact with the public, the last few years have been the social equivalent of an earthquake.
"The grounds have shifted," says Temitope Oriola, a professor of criminology at the University of Alberta and president-elect of the Canadian Sociological Association.
"There's been a fundamental seismic change in people's expectations, in beliefs, in attitudes towards the police."
Police forces in North America have been criticized and scrutinized after the deaths of people like George Floyd, Regis Korchinski-Pacquet, and Chantal Moore. The Toronto Police Service apologized for disproportionate use of force on people of colour earlier this year, and Halifax Regional Police (HRP) made a public apology for the use of street checks on Black Nova Scotians in 2019.
People protesting against street checks in early 2019. The practice was later banned in Nova Scotia. (Anjuli Patil/CBC)
CBC's Atlantic Investigative Unit began a project in the spring of 2022 to examine the police complaints process in Atlantic Canada.
That's the process by which any member of the public can file a complaint against a police officer.
Some people who have used that process in the past include Carrie Low, who said Halifax police failed to properly investigate a rape committed against her.
Other cases include a man who complained he was wrongfully Tasered and arrested on Quinpool Road in Halifax in December 2019.
Another case is that of Kayla Borden, who complained that she was racially profiled by Halifax police after being pulled over while driving.
Carrie Low, left, and Kayla Borden, right, have used the police complaints process at different times. (CBC)
CBC News journalists filed access-to-information requests to the RCMP for the entire Atlantic region as well as all municipal forces. The only exception was municipal forces in P.E.I., where discipline information is already publicly accessible.
In Nova Scotia, CBC News asked to see 11 years' worth of discipline decisions resulting from public complaints made to each department in order to understand what the complaint was, the result of the internal investigation, and in cases of substantiated officer misconduct, what kind of discipline was applied.
All of the municipal police forces in Nova Scotia responded. Seven agreed to disclose the requested information with some redactions, and two said they had no records for the requested time period due to their file-retention policy.
Halifax Regional Police, which is by far the largest municipal police department in the province, responded to the access-to-information application. However, HRP said it would not disclose any information on the grounds that it could endanger the safety of an officer or some other person, and that the request was an unreasonable invasion of privacy.
According to annual reports from the Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner — an arm's-length agency funded by the Nova Scotia government — there were more than 900 complaints against HRP from members of the public for that time period.
Temitope Oriola is a professor of criminology at the University of Alberta. (CBC)
CBC News chose to appeal the HRP decision to the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, following a process laid down in the Municipal Government Act, in a further effort to obtain the records.
"The CBC has a public mandate to try to reveal information that's in the public interest," said Ian Brimacombe, the managing editor of CBC Nova Scotia.
"In this instance, the CBC believes that the police are sitting on information that will help the audience form their own opinions about matters of public debate to do with the police. It's very important that our public institutions are transparent.
"The CBC believes that the police have a duty to disclose the complaints that have been made against their officers, and what the police force has decided to do about those complaints. This is absolutely a matter of accountability journalism, and this information is in the public interest."
Halifax Regional Police declined to comment on the matter in an email Monday. The force will file a brief detailing its legal position in December through city lawyers.
With regard to freedom of information, HRP has previously told CBC News it tries to "strike a balance between public and officer safety and privacy considerations" while releasing what information it can.
Rejection not unusual
Prof. Oriola said HRP's response to the inquiry was not unusual in the policing field.
"The kinds of questions people are now asking, and even public expectations about what police officers can or cannot do, or should or should not do, all of those are changing," he said in an interview.
A
Halifax Regional Police officer stands near caution tape at a crime
scene in Halifax. HRP is the largest municipal police department in Nova
Scotia. (Brett Ruskin/CBC)
"It appears that a lot of police services are struggling with that new reality that somehow people are now asking them to release the list or names of officers who have been disciplined. That's new for them in many cases. There wasn't always this tremendous public interest."
Oriola said policing, unlike fields such as nursing, dentistry, or social work, has mostly chosen not to "professionalize" over time.
"We continue to treat policing as a set of manual skills that can be acquired with a Grade 12 level of education and with a six-month training," he said.
In contrast, Oriola said many occupations are increasingly requiring things such as a university degree, and are using what he calls the "college" model.
Professional colleges such as the College of Physicians and Surgeons typically accept and investigate complaints from the public, often in a public forum. Policing, he said, does not.
Oriola said he believes the shift in the public's expectations of police has been driven by technology like cellphone cameras, dashcam footage and body-worn cameras.
"For many decades, whatever narrative the police put out was taken as the law, as a proper and objective account of what happened — until video evidence began to come out," he said.
Demonstrators
gather at Washington Square Park, during a protest against the death in
Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in New York City, New York,
U.S., June 6, 2020. (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)
He added some communities have long spoken about poor interactions with police, including members of the Black community in Halifax on the practice of street checks.
Tension between police and community
That relationship between racialized people and police has been an area of research for Jihyun Kwon, who is completing her PhD on police accountability and oversight at the University of Toronto.
She recently gave expert testimony to the Nova Scotia Mass Casualty Commission, and has worked on research with Prof. Scot Wortley, who wrote the street checks report for Nova Scotia.
Her research suggests existing complaints processes don't work very well for the public.
"I think it exacerbates the tension between the police and the public because they really had to take courage to go to utilize the system," Kwon said in an interview.
"My research found that people who have low confidence in the police and racialized people are less likely to use these systems to begin. But once they take the courage to use the system and really believe that justice will be served, and then find out it doesn't — that's not what they get — I think it only worsens the legitimacy crisis that we currently have."
El Jones, a professor at Mount Saint Vincent University who chaired the committee that delivered a report defining defunding the police to the Halifax Police Commission, said a lack of transparency "breaks trust" with the community.
"The police have such incredible powers. They are the only people that can use force. That is such a serious responsibility. And when force is misused from a policing point of view as well, it also turns the public against the police," she said.
El
Jones, a well-known community activist and educator, was chairperson of
the committee created to define what it means to defund the police. (Robert Short/CBC )
"Communities don't want to work with the police if we're experiencing force. So you'd also think from the point of view of policing that you'd want to make sure that this responsibility is taken seriously."
Long history of information battles
She also pointed to a long history of struggles to get information from police forces. That history includes the data on Halifax street checks, which was disclosed after a CBC News access-to-information request in 2017 and evolved into a report by the Human Rights Commission and a legal opinion from a former chief justice before the practice was banned.
"It took us so long to do that," said Jones. "And we can't do that for every single issue. If we have to go five years for every single piece of data, how are we ever supposed to make any changes?"
Jones said she believes public institutions like the police have a "basic democratic responsibility" to be transparent and accountable.
"They [police] would say that these are things that they, more than anybody, care about. So if that's the case, then why is it repeatedly that every time we ask for things like data or accountability or information that we have to fight tooth and nail to get it? It should be available," she said.
In a separate recent case, CBC News attempted to use freedom-of-information laws to get details from Halifax Regional Police about the removal of homeless encampments. HRP denied those requests and the force was criticized by the province's information and privacy commissioner, Tricia Ralph, for the denial.
Protesters
and police push against each other during a protest against the
eviction of homeless people outside the former Halifax Memorial Library
in August 2021. (Michael Gorman/CBC)
Ralph recommended HRP release the information with redactions of officers' names to protect their medical privacy. The force chose not to release any information.
More complaints possible
These discussions about policing are happening at a time when greater numbers of people may have access to the police complaints system.
In response to the case of Carrie Low, who complained about the mishandling of a rape investigation, the province announced in 2020 it would give people more time to file an official complaint.
The time limit was extended to one year from six months. At that time, Halifax Regional Police Chief Dan Kinsella said he wasn't sure if the increased time could translate into greater costs or a greater number of complaints, but suggested that might be the case.
Halifax Regional Police Chief Dan Kinsella said in 2020 it is important for people to bring forward their concerns about police. (Brett Ruskin/CBC)
Still, Kinsella called it "exceedingly important" for people to bring their concerns about police forward.
"We need to increase the dialogue, we need to increase community members' opportunities to come forward whenever they want to bring any information in regards to police conduct or activity," he said outside a board of police commissioners meeting in early 2020.
The court case where CBC News has asked to receive HRP discipline records is scheduled to be heard on Jan. 4, 2023.
For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ottawa cop pleads guilty to criminal charges, resigns, gets house arrest and curfew
Staff Sgt. William Hinterberger paid a total salary of $428,274 from 2020 to 2022 while suspended
An Ottawa police officer who was facing 26 criminal charges including breach of trust, aggravated assault and sexual assault quietly pleaded guilty to six of them last month, resigned from the force and received a nine-month conditional sentence of house arrest and a curfew.
Staff Sgt. William Hinterberger was first charged by his own police force in October 2019.
The 15 charges against him included sexual assault, assault, aggravated assault, assault causing bodily harm, confinement, breach of trust by sharing a confidential Ottawa police intelligence report, several charges of possessing firearms without a licence, distributing an intimate image without consent, and damage to property under $5,000, all for incidents alleged to have occurred from September 2015 to September 2019.
The victim's identity is protected by a publication ban.
Hinterberger was then arrested twice for allegedly breaching orders a total of 11 times, first in November 2019 and again in January 2020.
He was one of several high-ranking Ottawa police officers named by CBC's The Fifth Estate in a 2021 story about sexism in the force.
Trial had been set to begin last month
A trial lasting two weeks was due to begin March 27, more than three years after charges were first laid against him, in Ottawa's Superior Court of Justice.
Instead, on that day Hinterberger pleaded guilty to and was convicted of six of the 26 charges he faced: assault, assault causing bodily harm, breach of trust, possessing a firearm without a licence and two counts of failing to comply with release orders.
Some of the details were first reported by the Ottawa Citizen.
Justice John Johnston, who normally presides elsewhere in Ontario, handed down a nine-month conditional sentence that includes six months of house arrest and three months of curfew between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., with some exceptions.
After Hinterberger's house arrest and curfew, he will spend two years on a peace bond starting in December.
Hinterberger — who was represented by defence lawyers Richard Addelman and Samantha Robinson — was also ordered to pay a $1,200 victim surcharge within six months: $200 for each of the six counts he was convicted of. He is banned from possessing firearms for 10 years and was also ordered to submit a DNA sample.
The Crown was Julien Lalande.
Case 'disconcerting,' Ontario police association says
In a brief emailed statement, an Ottawa police spokesperson wrote that Hinterberger resigned from the force the same day he pleaded guilty to the charges, and that his resignation took effect March 26.
Matthew Cox, president of the Ottawa police union, wrote in an email that its members work hard to keep Ottawa safe, and that the Ottawa Police Association does not condone criminal behaviour by anyone.
"Mr. Hinterberger has plead guilty and resigned from policing so no further comment will be made on this matter," Cox added.
"This case is disconcerting and we're glad to see the individual will be held responsible and that they have resigned," said a spokesperson for the Police Association of Ontario, which represents sworn and civilian personnel across the province.
Before resigning, Hinterberger had been suspended from duty with pay since September 2019. According to the Ontario Sunshine List, he was paid a total salary of $428,274 from 2020 to 2022, including a nearly 22-per-cent raise in 2022.
CBC News requested comment from Hinterberger through his lawyer, but did not receive a response.
Corrections
- A previous version of this story misidentified Mélanie Richer as a spokesperson for the Police Association of Ontario.Apr 18, 2023 3:46 PM ET
- A previous version of this story stated the trial against Hinterberger was scheduled to run for several weeks. In fact, it was scheduled to run for two weeks.Apr 18, 2023 11:25 AM ET
With files from Kristy Nease, Michelle Allan and Avanthika Anand
Vancouver officer worried Myles Gray would keep resisting if he regained consciousness, inquest hears
Radio audio from police calling paramedics after Gray fell unconscious played at inquest
The first of several Vancouver police officers involved in the beating death of an unarmed man in Burnaby, B.C., took the stand at a coroner's inquest Tuesday, becoming the only member of the force to speak publicly about the case in more than seven years.
Const. Hardeep Sahota was the first officer to respond to a 911 call about Myles Gray, 33, on the afternoon he was killed in a wooded backyard on Joffre Avenue near Marine Drive in August 2015.
Two people had called for police after Gray wandered into the neighbourhood, swore at a woman and sprayed a garden hose at her as she watered plants outside her co-op building. Each told the inquest Tuesday they were fearful because Gray wasn't wearing a shirt or shoes and appeared "intoxicated."
Sahota, then a six-year member of the force, called for backup after Gray's "level of agitation" increased, and he grabbed the door of her police van.
"I was certain that he was becoming violent and that he was threatening toward me," she told the inquest.
The ensuing confrontation between Gray, Sahota and her backup left the man with injuries so extensive, forensic experts could not determine a cause of death — a fractured eye socket, broken bones, a crushed voice box, brain hemorrhaging and a ruptured testicle.
The coroner's inquest that began this week is seeking to determine the facts around his death, not place blame, and make recommendations to prevent similar deaths in the future.
The remaining officers involved in the case will take the stand in the coming days.
Inquest hears audio from police radios
Sahota told the inquest Gray ran into a forested backyard on Joffre Avenue after grabbing the door of her van. She said she followed him to keep an eye on his location.
After backup arrived, Sahota said officers asked Gray to kneel, and pepper-sprayed him after he refused.
Sahota said she hit Gray with her baton "as hard as [she] could" three times in the leg during the struggle but that it had "zero effect" toward subduing him. She said she did not hit Gray in his throat or groin to potentially cause some of his more severe injuries, or see any of her fellow officers do so.
"If we were to look back, there's many options as to how this could've played out and, unfortunately, it ended the way it ended," said the officer, who is still with the force.
"I'm very saddened by the result of the incident."
Supporters
and family of Myles Gray, who died during a confrontation with police,
are pictured outside of the B.C. coroner's offices prior to the inquiry
into Gray’s death on Monday. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
After the confrontation, Sahota went to hospital for an injury to her hand as another officer mistakenly struck her with his baton as she held the strap that hobbled Gray so he could not walk.
Sahota was among the officers who did not initially co-operate with B.C.'s independent police watchdog as it examined Gray's case. She agreed to a second interview after the Independent Investigations Office of B.C. filed a court petition to compel her co-operation as a witness to Gray's death — not as a suspect.
Sahota told the inquest she could not recall having any training in responding to calls around mental health in 2015 but might have had some in years since.
The B.C. Prosecution Service declined to approve criminal charges against the officers in 2020, saying they were the only eyewitnesses to the man's death and offered accounts described as incomplete and sometimes inconsistent.
Inquest hears audio from police radios
The jury on Tuesday heard audio recorded from police radios as unidentified officers called for an ambulance in the minutes after Gray was beaten.
An officer called for an advanced life support ambulance unit because Gray was unconscious and unresponsive, but expressed concern he might continue to resist if he regained consciousness.
"If this guy comes to, we're going to need a sedation," the officer said.
An officer also said two colleagues had been injured, one in the jaw and another who was bleeding from the forehead.
Medical records cited in a report from the B.C. Prosecution Service showed one constable had been punched in the face during the arrest and was left with a small cut under his chin. The second had a five-centimetre cut on his forehead from a low-hanging tree branch, the report said.
Woman's son, neighbour called 911 after garden incident
Muhammed Reza, then a student, told the inquest Tuesday he called police that afternoon because he was scared after Gray swore at his mother and sprayed her with a garden hose outside their home on Marine Drive.
He said he ran outside after hearing his mother's screams and found Gray, who he believed to having a "breakdown."
Reza's mother, Songul Reza, told the inquest she felt someone "yank" the hose in her hands and turned to see a muscular man who wasn't wearing a shirt.
Myles
Gray in an undated photo. Gray, 33, died after a violent confrontation
with police officers in a Burnaby, B.C., backyard on Aug. 13, 2015. (Justice for Myles Gray/Facebook)
She said he made sexual remarks about her, telling her she was "beautiful'' and "sexy."
A neighbour, Naliza Majidigoruh, also phoned 911 after hearing yelling and going outside to find Gray "bothering" her friend.
On the stand, Majidigoruh began to cry when asked if she agreed Gray needed help.
Melissa Gray told reporters at the start of the inquest the officers involved stole her brother's life and that they don't deserve to continue their jobs in policing. During her testimony, she described him as a kind, goofy and loyal person who had been stable since being diagnosed with bipolar disorder around 1999, when he was about 18.
WATCH | Melissa Gray speaks about the outcomes she'd like to see from the inquest:
The inquest also heard from Myles Gray's family doctor from his home community in Sechelt, B.C., who said he believed Gray's bipolar disorder was "well controlled" and not a concern.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from Bethany Lindsay and The Canadian Press
Man shot and killed by Bathurst police after 'incident,' RCMP say
Nova Scotia RCMP won't say whether results of their ongoing investigation will be made public
The
area around the Via Rail station in Bathurst remained cordoned off in
January 2015 as Nova Scotia RCMP investigate the fatal shooting of
Michel Vienneau by Bathurst city police. (Bridget Yard/CBC)
The man from Tracadie was fatally wounded by police "as part of an ongoing investigation," RCMP Sgt. Alain LeBlanc said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon.
LeBlanc declined to discuss the nature of that investigation, or say whether the victim was known to police.
Given the investigation is in its early stages, RCMP are not able to release a lot of information at this time.
- Nova Scotia RCMP Sgt. Alain LeBlanc
He also declined to say how many shots were fired.
"Given the investigation is in its early stages, RCMP are not able to release a lot of information at this time," LeBlanc said.
A team of major crime investigators is currently in Bathurst to conduct the investigation, he said.
LeBlanc would not say whether the results of the investigation would be made public.
"RCMP are not in a position to release the name of the man," who was transported to the Chaleur Regional Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, said LeBlanc.
But Annick Basque told CBC News the victim was her husband, Michel Vienneau.
Basque claims police shot the wrong man.
She said she and her husband got off a train from Montreal when a group of men approached their car shouting. She claims they did not know the men were police and in the confusion, their car hit an officer before shots were fired.
Bathurst police have not confirmed the woman's allegations. Nova Scotia RCMP Sgt Alain LeBlanc addressed the media Tuesday afternoon.
"Our preliminary investigation determines shots were fired by police as a result of an incident and at this time I can confirm that Nova Scotia RCMP are conducting an investigation into this incident. We have approximately eight major crime investigators from Nova Scotia that are here on the ground to conduct this investigation," he said.
LeBlanc did not answer any questions about the original investigation, directing reporters to Bathurst Police for more details. He said NS RCMP would be on site for a few more days, but would not say if their finding would be made public.
He did confirm that the officers involved have been re-assigned to administrative duties pending the outcome of the investigation.
The Via Rail station remained cordoned off by yellow caution tape on Tuesday. Police could not say when the train station would reopen.
2 Mounties shouldn't be charged in fatal shooting on Kingston Peninsula, agency finds
Force used against knife-wielding man was 'justified and not excessive'
The officers had reasonable grounds to believe the force they used was necessary to protect themselves after they arrived at the home during the early morning hours, an investigation by Nova Scotia's Serious Incident Response Team concluded.
The man, whose name has not been released, was armed with a utility knife, which he refused to drop, and moved toward the officers, according to the report, released Thursday by the Department of Justice and Public Safety.
They used a Taser, which caused the man to fall to the ground and roll around. But then he stood up again with the knife still in his hand.
They tried to use the Taser two more times, but it stopped functioning.
Struck officer in face with knife
The man moved toward the first officer, who shot him in the shoulder. It caused the man to move backwards momentarily, but then he "lunged at [the officer] and struck them in the face with the utility knife."
With that officer now on the ground, the man advanced toward the second officer, who shot him in the stomach.
Paramedics administered first aid at the scene, but the man "flat-lined" in the ambulance, shortly before arrival at the hospital, according to the report.
Police
officers are entitled to apply as much force as is necessary to protect
themselves from force or threat of harm from an offender, says the
Serious Incident Response Team. (CBC)
There was "clear evidence that the [man] intended to cause death or grievous bodily harm to the [officers]," the report says. "The [officers] therefore had reasonable grounds to believe that the use of force was necessary for their self-preservation.
"An assessment of the force used in the circumstances, viewed objectively, clearly establishes that the force used was justified and not excessive. Accordingly, the actions of [the officers] did not constitute a criminal offence. Therefore, no charges are warranted against either officer."
Upset over being awakened by child
The incident began when a woman went to the RCMP detachment in Hampton to report she had been assaulted by her former partner in the house they still shared, according to the report. She lived on the main floor with her two children and he lived in the basement.
The man became upset when he was awakened after one of the children got up to use the washroom, and he went to the main level "yelling and screaming."
He assaulted the woman by choking her and "pushing her head into a door with enough force as to cause visible damage to the door," the report states.
He also threatened to burn down the house if she left the residence or called the police, and then took away her cellphone, as well as her daughter's.
Was hiding in closet
That's when she and her daughter fled in their pyjamas and headed to the police station, leaving her sleeping son behind.
She was "very concerned" about the boy. She was "frantic and crying the entire time she was with the [officers] at the detachment and subsequently at the residence," the report states.
When they accompanied her to the basement to retrieve some clothing from a closet, they were confronted by the man, who was hiding inside, with a utility knife in his hand and his arm raised.
The investigation was undertaken at the request of the Department of Justice and Public Safety through a memorandum of understanding, according to a news release.
Codiac RCMP officers found not responsible for man's death
Fredericton Police Force investigation says Daniel Levesque, 30, died as a result of stab wounds
Two Codiac RCMP officers who shot a Moncton man four times in July 2013 were not responsible for his death, according to an investigation led by the Fredericton Police Force.
The Fredericton Police were handed the investigation following the shooting almost a year ago of Daniel Levesque, 30.
Insp. Gary Forward said the investigation into the shooting has been wrapped up.
Forward said an autopsy revealed stab wounds that were received before the shooting were the cause of death and not the four gunshot wounds.
"The original investigation also determined that reasonable force was used by the RCMP officers who acted in accordance with their training to mitigate risk to the public and themselves during their encounter with Mr. Levesque," according to a statement issued by the Fredericton Police.
The Codiac RCMP responded to a complaint at about 6 a.m. in July 2013 of someone who was armed breaking into a vehicle near the Moncton Coliseum. RCMP officers arrived at the scene with a canine unit and went looking for the individual.
After about an hour looking for the person, Forward said the officers noticed a man who appeared to be holding a knife and told him to stop.
"He kept coming toward police aggressively," he said.
That is when the police fired their weapons. Forward said all four gunshots hit the suspect but none hit vital organs.
While the investigation into the shooting is now over, the Fredericton Police are still probing Levesque’s death.
There is no timeline on when that investigation will be finished.
The police haven't ruled out any possibilities on how Levesque received the stab wounds or whether they were self-inflicted.
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