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| NEWS > 24 November 2006 |
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HOLLYWOOD On the job, they continued making traffic stops, investigating burglaries and homicides and taking reports from residents. But inside the Police Department, the shock, shame and sense of loss overwhelmed the staff after they learned that four of their own took money from FBI agents posing as drug traffickers.
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 Article sourced from
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CBC Toronto - Toronto,Ontario,
24 November 2006
This article appeared in the above title/site.
To view it in its entirity click this link.
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Police corruption probe led to
Two investigators who probed corruption allegations against fellow Toronto police officers for years said Friday indifference from police brass and isolation from their peers took a profound toll on their health.
Neal Ward, a 33-year veteran of the force, was one of 25 members of an internal task force set up from 2001 to 2004 to probe accusations that members of a drug squad team allegedly beat up drug suspects and robbed them of money.
When officers accepted the assignment, they say then-police chief Julian Fantino told them they were doing "God's work."
But now, as Ward reflects on his experience, he says the time spent on that task force left many of the officers wishing they'd never joined.
"Everybody that was on that task force suffered some physical ailment in one way or other. And I mean everybody," he told CBC News.
Alienated from peers
Ward ended up in hospital because of a stress-related illness and he claimed many others suffered from stress during their time on the task force.
"It was worry," said Ward. "I ended up in hospital. I wasn't sleeping."
"[The work] alienates one from his peers," he said. "It's a hard, hard job looking at officers and looking at their work under a microscope."
He's now happily retired, but worries about other former task force members who continue to suffer from isolation and distrust from colleagues as they try to continue with their policing careers.
In fact, a number of former task members have complained that their careers have been sidelined, and promises of rewards and promotions have gone unfulfilled.
Earlier this week, Ward spoke to CBC and the Toronto Sun about concerns that the police force never properly investigated a number of serious cases of alleged criminal activities by cops that Ward and other members of the task force uncovered.
Supervisors a 'big blue wall' blocking work: Cassells
Ward spoke out in support of another member of the task force team, Sgt. Jim Cassells, who criticized the force in May for ignoring those cases.
Cassells said Friday there was a serious lack of support for the task force members.
"We had no support from our peers or from the association and people understood that to a degree, which was all the more reason you'd think you'd get more support from management," he said.
What made things worse, Cassells said, was Toronto police supervisors were part of what he calls a "big blue wall" blocking their work.
As a result of the task force investigation, six former drug squad officers face dozens of criminal charges. Their trials are scheduled to begin in January 2008.
But sources told CBC that more than a dozen cases remain unresolved by the Toronto police force, including allegations that one drug squad operated a drug ring and another team stole $2.5 million from drug suspects.
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
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