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| NEWS > 12 August 2006 |
Other related articles:
Ethics Commission rules on Fol
The Alabama Ethics Commission voted 4-0 on Wednesday to issue a resolution regarding former acting Foley Police Chief David White, who admitted he earned $290 from an outside employer while he was on duty for the city.
Once the administrative resolution is approved by the Baldwin County District Attorney's Office, the commission can fine White up to $1,000 at a future meeting. The next meeting is scheduled for February.
The administrative resolution allows a person to admit a minor violation of the law and to pay restitution, said Jim Sumner, director of the ethics comm... Read more
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 Article sourced from
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Toronto Sun - Canada
12 August 2006
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To view it in its entirity click this link.
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Police Chief Bill Blair’s repo
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Chief's report led to charges
A "confidential" report by Chief Bill Blair persuaded the Toronto Police Services Board to unanimously approve 91 discipline charges against 11 ex-drug officers, court documents show.
Blair's report, contained in a divisional court file, lists allegations that:
- Drugs were given to informants.
- The spending habits of a couple of police officers were "consistent with the allegations of theft."
- A potential witness had "a threatening telephone call."
- A "slush fund" was kept for "food and entertainment."
The lion's share of the Police Services Act charges -- multiple allegations of corrupt practice, deceit and discreditable conduct -- are said to have occurred in a drug squad unit between 1995 and 1999. None of the allegations has been proven in court and police union lawyers have vigorously asserted their clients' innocence.
Noting that the allegations are from between seven and 11 years ago and were investigated for almost as many years, police union lawyers have sought a judicial review in divisional court, arguing the charges should be quashed and not laid again.
The lawyers assert the board "erred in law" and "exceeded its jurisdiction" in June when it accepted Blair's argument that the delay in laying charges was "reasonable."
DELAYED CHARGES
"How can anyone assert that delaying (the charges) against these subject officers at a minimum of six years and at a maximum of 11 years is reasonable?" lawyer Joanne Mulcahy told the board prior to its acceptance of Blair's request.
Five of the 11 cops already face trial on criminal charges, some of which parallel the new internal allegations.
Suspended officers Staff Sgt. John Schertzer and Consts. Steve Correia, Raymond Pollard, Ned Maodus and Rick Benoit were ordered to trial on criminal charges this spring after a five-month preliminary hearing.
A sixth ex-drug cop who also faces criminal charges, Joe Miched, has quit the force and is no longer subject to the police act.
The criminal charges involve allegations of cops conspiring to obstruct justice by falsifying notes, affidavits and memo books during drug searches and seizures. There are also allegations of thefts of drugs and cash and an in-custody beating.
When sending the six to trial, Justice James Blacklock noted that prosecutors have "credibility" issues with a "significant number" of witnesses.
Maodus also faces separate criminal charges -- including sexual assault, drug possession and procuring the services of a prostitute -- in four separate off-duty cases.
Documents filed in divisional court show that Schertzer now faces 21 police act charges, Correia 14, Pollard 13, Benoit two, and Maodus 19.
Ex-drug cops Greg Forestall, Christopher Higgins, Jason Kondo, Sean McGuinness, Jonathan Reid and Mike Turnbull also face new internal charges.
Forestall, Kondo, Reid and Turnbull were named as "unindicted co-conspirators" in the criminal case, but allegations against the four were not part of the preliminary hearing.
SERVED IN LATE 1990S
All 11 cops -- and the retired Miched -- served with Schertzer in the Toronto Police Central Field Command drug squad Team 3 in the late 1990s.
Schertzer's unit was the focus of a three-year, RCMP-led probe that climaxed with the criminal charges on Jan. 7, 2004.
Until now, it appeared that any internal charges had disappeared into a black hole.
The Police Services Act states chiefs need approval from their police board if internal charges are sought more than six months after the allegations come to light.
Documents filed in the judicial review reveal that the board gave its unanimous approval to Blair's bid to lay internal charges.
"We are all of the view (the delay) was not unreasonable and that charges must be laid forthwith," the board concluded at a closed-door meeting June 15, documents show.
In a "confidential report" of March 7 -- also part of the judicial review submissions -- Blair attributed the years of delays to four separate internal probes and audits that developed on an "ongoing" basis.
Detailing the massive Mountie-led, 35-man probe led by RCMP Staff Supt. John Neily, Blair said it was crucial that the Neily team kept focused on criminal matters for "a variety of legal and tactical reasons."
Blair said the subject officers were always aware that they were under suspicion for police act breaches and "none of the officers have faced any prejudice as a result of the delay."
Blair's report contains numerous new allegations, including:
- Some confidential informants received drugs from cops in exchange for information.
- An account ledger showing "withdrawals for food and entertainment, personal items and payments to confidential informers" was found in the search of Maodus' home.
CASH-FLOW ANALYSIS
- A financial cash-flow analysis of banking records alleges "significant differences" in the spending habits of Schertzer and Miched following their removal form the drug squad.
- It is claimed that transactions were "consistent with the allegations of theft" being probed by the RCMP-led task force.
In a May 29 letter sent to the board prior to its ruling, Mulcahy -- acting for Schertzer, Correia, Pollard, Benoit and Maodus -- said granting Blair's application "would make a mockery" of the police act principles.
"The delays in this case can only be described as excessive, unreasonable, inordinate and abusive," she wrote.
Mulcahy argued the five cops "all have exemplary records" and earned many "awards and commendations" for their "hard work, investigative abilities, bravery and integrity."
She wrote: "What is asserted as fact cannot be taken as anything more than untested allegations ... many have already been contested in the course of the criminal proceedings and been proven to be false."
The allegations, she said, come from "persons with significant criminal records, admitted liars, persons with discreditable pasts, persons with significant animus against the police and persons with significant financial motives."
'SPECULATION'
She added that the findings of the financial review are "based on speculation."
The cops have been subject to gossip, innuendo, false allegations, meanness, embarrassment and humiliation, she wrote.
For Turnbull, Reid, Forestall, McGuinness, Kondo and Higgins, lawyer Frank Addario wrote that five years of delays and a failure to disclose the case is a "breach of natural justice."
Noting that criminal charges were laid Jan. 7, 2004, Addario asked why it took another 28 months to lay internal charges.
Toronto Police has already been rocked by former task force investigator Sgt. Jim Cassells' demand for a public inquiry into the way the police force investigates itself.
Cassells, a 29-year veteran, asserted in the spring that "numerous" allegations of police wrongdoing have been swept under the carpet, minimized, only partially probed, or else fell by the wayside amid interference from some senior officers.
Cassells faces police act charges for talking with the media.
Blair ordered a "procedural review" of Cassell's allegations.
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POLICE ACT CHARGES FILED BY CHIEF BILL BLAIR AGAINST 11 FORMER TORONTO DRUG COPS
Chief Bill Blair last month gained Toronto Police Services Board approval to charge 11 former drug cops with 91 internal charges under the Police Services Act. The charges relate to allegations between 1995 and 2002.
- Staff Sgt. John Schertzer: Corrupt practice -- three counts, deceit (11), discreditable conduct (7).
- Const. Steve Correia: Corrupt practice (2), deceit (8), discreditable conduct (4).
- Const. Ray Pollard: Corrupt practice, deceit (7), discreditable conduct (5).
- Const. Rick Benoit: Corrupt practice, discreditable conduct.
- Const. Ned Maodus: Deceit (8), discreditable conduct (10), insubordination.
- Const. Mike Turnbull: Deceit, discreditable conduct.
- Const. Jon Reid: Deceit (2), discreditable conduct (2).
- Det. Jason Kondo: Deceit (4), discreditable conduct (4).
- Const. Greg Forestall: Deceit (4), discreditable conduct (2).
- Const. Sean McGuinness: Corrupt practice.
- Det. Chris Higgins: Corrupt practice
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