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| NEWS > 23 November 2006 |
Other related articles:
Clark warns police report damn
Prime Minister Helen Clark is hinting that the findings of the Commission of Inquiry into police conduct will be damning.
Dame Margaret Bazley's findings are due out at the end of this month.
Clark has been given a heads up on the report and while she is not giving much away, she says "it will certainly have issues for all of us to think about when it comes out".
The prime minister says the issue has always been whether the police rape allegations relate to a historical culture within the force, or whether it is still a contemporary matter.
Clark i... Read more
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 Article sourced from
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CBC Toronto - Toronto,Ontario,
23 November 2006
This article appeared in the above title/site.
To view it in its entirity click this link.
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In 2001, then police chief Jul
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Toronto police chief, board ch
Toronto's police chief and the head of the police civilian oversight board are welcoming a public inquiry into how Canada's largest police force handled internal corruption cases.
But they warn that if Ontario's Ministry of the Attorney General decides to request a public inquiry, it could not begin until the criminal trials of six former drug cops are resolved. They are set to begin in January 2008.
Toronto police Chief Bill Blair and Toronto Police Services Board chair Alok Mukherjee made the comments in response to allegations made by two police whistleblowers who claim the police force swept unresolved cases of alleged criminal activity under the carpet.
Blair told CBC a full-blown public inquiry will one day clear the air on a number of unresolved corruption allegations swirling around several drug squad teams.
Blair claims, though, that the two whistleblowers don't have all the facts.
Second whistleblower changed board chair's mind
Mukherjee, chair of the seven-member board that oversees the Toronto Police Service, was skeptical when the first whistleblower Jim Cassells came forward with allegations.
"My first response is, I do not believe that," he had said.
But he changed his mind when a second whistleblower, Neal Ward, came forward this week during an investigation by the CBC and Toronto Sun, and supported Cassells's earlier allegations as "mostly … quite correct."
Mukherjee then decided it was in the best interest of the police force and public that the issue get a full airing.
Both Cassells and Ward were part of a 25-member task force set up in 2001 to probe accusations that Toronto drug squad officers beat up and stole money from drug suspects. They claim supervisors failed to address a number of additional cases they unearthed.
'Those matters were dealt with'
Blair told CBC that the two whistleblowers don't have all the facts about whether unearthed cases resulted in further investigations or charges.
He noted the two did a good job while serving on the task force, but they weren't privy to the decision-making process of those higher-ups who decided which cases should be pursued and who should be charged.
"They don't have complete knowledge and I think that's important," said Blair. "The allegations of misconduct not pertaining to the subjects of their criminal investigation ... those matters were dealt with by other people."
He said many of the cases have been dealt with.
Public inquiry must wait
Mukherjee said Thursday he will present his recommendation for a public inquiry to Toronto Mayor David Miller and board colleagues at the next police board meeting on Tuesday.
Mukherjee notes that only Ontario Attorney General Michael Bryant can call for a public inquiry, but he warns that any inquiry would have to wait so as not to jeopardize criminal cases scheduled for the courts in January 2008.
Six former drug officers are awaiting trials on dozens of criminal charges, ranging from conspiracy to perjury, theft and assault. No allegations have been proven in court and all officers deny wrongdoing.
There are already worries the cases could be tossed out because of defence legal challenges such as unreasonable delay.
The board chair said he has had continuing discussions with prosecutors at Ontario's Ministry of the Attorney General, and they are well aware of his desire for a public inquiry to begin once charges against the six officers are resolved.
Wants to speak with head of task force
Mukherjee said he wants to speak directly with whistleblower Neal Ward about his concerns that the task force failed to address a lengthy list of additional allegations of police involved in criminal activity.
Ward told CBC earlier this week that while the special task force began probing original allegations of corruption among the members of one drug squad team, a number of other cases were unearthed.
Sources told CBC that the list of 14 cases includes allegations that officers on one team ran a drug ring, and another drug team allegedly stole millions from suspects.
Mukherjee is also calling for the former head of the task force, RCMP Staff Supt. John Neily, to step forward and explain whether his investigation was ever hampered, interfered with or left with loose ends.
"He was in charge of the investigation," said Mukherjee. "He should be able to clarify the reasons why the investigation went the way it did."
More information about how the task force was conducted should be revealed next week when Toronto police Chief Bill Blair makes public the findings of an internal "procedural review."
It came in response to complaints from task force member and whistleblower Jim Cassells that the task force failed to pursue a number of cases.
Report recommended task force
Allegations of criminal activity first came to light in 1999. Several suspects started lawsuits against officers in Toronto's Central Field Command's drug squad involving accusations of false arrest, assault and battery. That later snowballed with an unrelated RCMP investigation.
In 2001, then police Chief Julian Fantino started a special task force to probe accusations. He maintained the incidents were isolated.
The task force investigated allegations from 2001 to 2004 at an estimated cost of $8 million. It led to criminal charges being laid against the six officers. Four others were named as unindicted co-conspirators.
The task force was set up following an internal affairs report by then inspector Tony Corrie, who recommended a task force to bring the police issues to the "forefront." But the report also stated the task force would avert a potentially "embarrassing" public investigation.
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