Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 11:23:41 -0400 To: Matthew Gaylor <freematt@coil.com> From: Matthew Gaylor <freematt@coil.com> Subject: Senior Mountie heads inquiries into disgraced drug squad Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed"Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2001 11:26:37 -0700 To: jray@free-market.net, freematt@coil.com From: Chris Bearchell <seabee@island.net> Subject: police corruption
[On the inevitable corollary to drug prohibition: cop corruption. - cb]
The Toronto Star
Aug. 16, 2001. 01:57 PM
RCMP probes Toronto police corruption
Senior Mountie heads inquiries into disgraced drug squad
Jennifer Quinn, John Duncanson and Jim Rankin STAFF REPORTERS The investigation is a 'sad passage in the history of the Toronto Police Service' - Chief Julian Fantino. RELATED LINKS
Team of 20 officers investigates allegations of perjury
Toronto police Chief Julian Fantino has called in the Mounties to head a probe into allegations of perjury and theft in an ever-widening police corruption scandal that has plagued the force for years.
Calling the investigation a ``sad passage in the history of the Toronto Police Service,'' Fantino said yesterday that ``significant numbers'' of criminal cases - including ones currently before the courts and those that have already been closed - could be affected by the investigation. The exact number is unknown, but Toronto police drug squads investigate hundreds of cases each year.
This huge probe is an offshoot of the investigation of allegations of theft from the force's so-called ``fink fund'' - a reserve of cash used to pay off informants for information. That investigation, which is examining cases as far back as 1997, has already resulted in dozens of charges laid against 13 officers, eight of whom are former members of the troubled Central Field Command drug squad. Two other former drug squad officers face criminal charges in matters separate from the ``fink fund'' investigation.
The expanded internal probe, headed by a senior RCMP officer, deals with allegations of perjury, a difficult charge to prove and potentially extremely damaging to the force's reputation. Sources say police investigators suspect officers lied in order to snare drug suspects, and in some cases, allegedly pocketed money belonging to dealers.
The effects of the widening probe are already being felt in the courts, with one man - whose name is protected by a publication ban - being released from prison last month after the crown conceded there had been a ``miscarriage of justice.''
In that case, court documents obtained by The Star show a drug squad officer, who is currently facing criminal charges, was involved in the investigation.
``I can't undo what has happened here,'' Fantino said.
``But I certainly can't sit back and not do all that I can, and should, and must, to deal with the issues for what they are, and delve into why these things have happened, how they have happened, and ensure that we put in place the safeguards to make sure these things don't repeat themselves.''
A team of about 20 city police officers under a senior RCMP officer has been assigned to the case, sources say. The team has been working out of an office in an undisclosed location, outside of police headquarters at Bay and College Sts.
Fantino confirmed the RCMP involvement yesterday after a call from The Star.
Saying the investigation could affect a ``significant'' number of drug cases, Fantino said the team had been assigned to clean up the force's scandal-ridden drug squad.
Fantino would not discuss details of the expanded investigation but said it included allegations of perjury.
According to sources, in some of the cases being examined, officers were sending drug users to buy drugs from targeted dealers. The officers were then allegedly swearing out search warrants using information from the drug users, but claiming instead that the information had come from a different source, an informant.
The identity of informants is routinely protected in court, which means defence lawyers are unable to ask them questions.
Toronto police began looking into alleged theft of informant money about two years ago after accounting irregularities were discovered in a routine audit. Former chief David Boothby ordered a deeper investigation.
More than 50 ongoing drug cases have unravelled since December, 1999, due to the involvement of witness officers considered tainted because of criminal charges or ongoing internal investigations, papers filed in court have indicated. More than 80 people accused of drug crimes have walked free in those cases.
In April, 2000, internal affairs charged five officers - Detective Rod Lawrence, Detective Constable Gary Corbett, constables Gordon Ramsay, Wayne Frye and Rick Franklin - with skimming money from the fund. Two (Lawrence and Corbett) were members of the force's elite repeat offender program enforcement unit.
Then, cases involving a number of drug squad officers began to mysteriously unravel, with crown attorneys staying charges without explanation. It was Fantino who delivered the stunning news in November that eight more officers - all former members of Central Field Command drug squad - had been charged in connection with the informant money probe.
That case - involving charges of theft, fraud and forgery against Staff Sergeant John Schertzer, Detective Constable Steven Correia, and Constables Sean McGuinness, James Leslie, Jonathan Reid, Raymond Pollard, Jaroslaw Cieslik and Joseph Miched - is before the courts.
As the cases against the 13 officers charged in the so-called ``fink fund'' scandal slowly wind their way through the courts, Toronto police internal affairs investigators, overseen for the past few weeks by the RCMP, have been busy reviewing more cases, poring over court transcripts and other police paperwork.
Two other former drug squad members also face criminal charges. Constable Mark Denton was charged in November, 1999 with possession of hashish for the purpose of trafficking. In June, 2001, Constable Gregory Forestall was charged with perjury in connection with an allegation that a justice of the peace was given incorrect information for a search warrant in a 1998 drug case.
Investigators have also been examining closed cases, where convicted people are doing time in prison based on the work and testimony of certain drug squad officers.
Last month, a Toronto man convicted of possessing heroin was freed from prison after a secret police affidavit brought forward fresh evidence.
While much secrecy surrounds the reasons why the case unravelled, The Star has learned that a Toronto police officer facing criminal charges was central to the investigation.
Court documents from the man's original trial file show the officer in charge of exhibits in the case was Constable Joseph Miched, one of the eight former Central Field Command drug squad officers who face theft, fraud and forgery charges in connection with the ``fink fund'' scandal.
The convicted man, whose name is protected by a publication ban, was serving the 18th month of a 45-month term at a penitentiary in Kingston before he was freed last month.
A secret affidavit, sworn July 5 by Toronto internal affairs Detective Sergeant Randy Franks, landed before the Ontario Court of Appeal July 13. It contained fresh evidence and has been ordered sealed.
The appeal was granted and the charges stayed.
The man, who had pleaded guilty to possessing heroin and was described as an addict and a drug mule, walked free.
The court noted that it had recently come to the attention of the federal crown that the man's conviction ``occasioned a miscarriage of justice.''
The contents of the affidavit, the court said, ``fully justify the crown's position'' to stay proceedings against the man.
A stay means the crown may try a case at a later date, but it must do so within a year.
It also means an accused walks free and any money seized as proceeds of crime must be returned. In some of the cases, the accused were considered flight risks and had been held in jail awaiting trial. They, too, walked free.
None of the stayed drug cases has yet been reactivated.
------
POSTED AT 1:02 PM EDT Thursday, August 16
Chief calls in RCMP to probe Toronto police
By COLIN FREEZE Globe and Mail Update
Toronto Police Chief Julian Fantino has called in the RCMP to take over an internal investigation into allegations of corruption within the country's largest municipal force.
An unidentified senior RCMP investigator is taking over the probe. The hope is that an outside officer spearheading the wide-ranging probe - which originated several years ago - will allow the investigation to be seen as impartial.
The probe has already resulted in theft charges against more than a dozen officers, and these allegations have raised credibility questions that have caused scores of drug cases to be thrown out of court.
It is believed that the RCMP-led investigation will now look at whether Toronto Police officers perjured themselves while on the stand.
Chief Fantino was not available for comment Thursday, but Staff Inspector Bruce Smollet said the chief "agonized" over the decision to request RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli's assistance several weeks ago.
Ultimately, it was decided that "we need an independent person to look at this," said Staff Insp. Smollett, who under the chief's direction circulated a memo Wednesday informing the 7,000-member police force that the RCMP were being called in.
Having an independent RCMP officer lead the investigation will foster the perception that the investigation is being done impartially, Staff Insp. Smollet said. Still, a large team of Toronto Police officers will be doing the bulk of the investigation.
The Toronto Police Association has already expressed concern at what it has described as "guilty until proven innocent" internal investigations that "do nothing but destroy the very fabric that holds us."
The union's directors, led by Craig Bromell, met Thursday and are expected to put out a statement in the afternoon.
RCMP spokeswoman Constable Michele Paradis would not name the Mountie who will lead the probe, but said the officer has "a very good reputation" and has been involved in similar investigations before.
Constable Paradis said it was "not unusual" for the RCMP to be called in cases like this, and said the request from Chief Fantino came less than a month ago.
In all, 13 Toronto police officers have been charged in relation to alleged mishandling of what the force calls its "fink fund" - a pool of money used to pay off informants.
Eight of these officers worked for a downtown drug squad, and were charged in November, 2000, with theft, fraud, forgery and breach of trust, for allegedly fudging paperwork and taking money from the fink fund that was never given to informants. They face dozens of criminal charges as well as discipline charges under the Police Act.
Prosecutors have reportedly stayed charges in as many as 50 drug cases, stretching back into 1999, in which these officers were involved.
The Toronto police internal affairs unit began looking into the drug squad in 1999, after a group of criminal lawyers told police that clients had repeatedly alleged they had been robbed by officers.
In April, 2000, five officers in other police departments - including two members of an elite unit that tracks down fugitives - were charged misappropriating about $5,000 meant for informants. The alleged infractions turned up in an internal audit.
Two other former members of the drug squad face charges that do not related to the fink fund. One constable was charged with possession of hashish and the intention to traffic in it in January, 2000. Another was charged with perjury in June, 2001.
With a report from Jeff Gray
Aug. 17, 2001. 06:06 AM
115 criminal cases scrapped in police probe
Toronto union angry that RCMP heading inquiry
Jennifer Quinn POLICE ISSUES REPORTER RELATED LINKS A total of 115 court cases -- investigated by 13 officers tainted by criminal charges -- have now been thrown out, and more could end the same way as the RCMP-led probe into corruption on the Toronto force continues.
It's not clear how many accused people have walked free because of the 115 scuttled cases. Last year, the federal government had reported that 47 cases thrown out of court involved 81 accused.
``There was a range from not very serious charges to very serious charges,'' said David Littlefield, a senior lawyer with the Department of Justice. ``Of course there's an impact on the system when we weren't able to proceed with those cases and it's an impact on the system any time a police officer is charged. It causes concerns over the integrity of the investigation and the police force.''
Yesterday, The Star reported that Chief Julian Fantino has asked a senior RCMP officer, Chief Superintendent John Nealy, to head a task force of about 20 city police investigators who are probing allegations of perjury and theft. This new probe is an offshoot of an earlier investigation of allegations of theft from the force's so-called ``fink fund,'' which is a reserve of cash used to pay off informants.
Also yesterday, the Toronto Police Association ``denounced'' Fantino for calling in the RCMP to head the probe, saying it shows he doesn't trust his own investigators.
``He makes it sound like there's a crime wave in the police service, and there's not,'' a clearly frustrated union chief Craig Bromell said from Quebec city, where he is attending the first general meeting of a new national organization of police associations. ``What he did will cause damage to the service for years to come.
``I hope he's ashamed of himself because a whole lot of drug dealers are going to be walking the streets.''
Bromell and the association ``denounced'' Fantino for calling in the Mounties, saying it's clear he doesn't trust his own people and that the chief's statements ``jeopardized the officers' right to a fair hearing.''
``We're very suspicious of the timing, we're very suspicious of the RCMP coming in, and we really want to get to the bottom of this,'' Bromell said.
So far, 13 officers -- eight of whom are former members of the troubled central field command drug squad -- are facing dozens of charges stemming from that probe.
Sources have told The Star that investigators believe police officers lied in order to catch drug suspects and, in some cases, pocketed the cash they seized from dealers.
One prominent Toronto defence lawyer says Fantino hasn't gone far enough.
Clayton Ruby, who has represented clients investigated by the officers charged, said the whole matter should be the subject of a public inquiry.
``This is not even another force being asked to investigate,'' Ruby said. ``This is one police officer seconded to an investigation, and that's really inadequate.
``There's levels of things you can do. You can do what they've done -- bring in one police officer to look at it, and how the hell is he to know what's going on, he's only one guy. Or you can give it all over to the RCMP. Start from scratch,'' he said.
``More appropriately, you can go to the government and say, `We need a public investigation.'
``And that's the best kind because it leaves all of us satisfied that any impropriety hasn't tainted the investigation as well. If you're going to do an independent investigation, then do an independent investigation. This is in-house.''
Fantino has said he asked Nealy to come in to lead the Toronto investigators because he felt it needed to be clear there was no hidden agenda.
``We need to have some independent, outside-the-box thinking on some of these issues, an objective oversight,'' the chief told The Star earlier this week.
``It isn't any slight on our ability or the integrity of our people.''
Ruby said the presence of an officer from an outside force supervising such an important investigation shows the chief doesn't trust his internal affairs investigators.
Five officers -- Detective Rod Lawrence, Detective Constable Gary Corbett, constables Gordon Ramsay, Wayne Frye and Rick Franklin -- were charged in April, 2000 with skimming money from the fink fund. Lawrence and Corbett were members of the force's elite repeat offender parole enforcement unit.
At the same time, court cases involving officers from the central field command drug squad were unravelling, as crown attorneys were staying charges with no explanation. Last November, Fantino announced that eight drug squad officers -- Staff Sergeant John Schertzer, Detective Constable Steven Correia, and constables Sean McGuinness, James Leslie, Jonathan Reid, Raymond Pollard, Jaroslaw Cieslik and Joseph Miched -- had been charged with theft, fraud and forgery in connection with the fink fund investigation.
Chris Bearchell mailto:seabee@island.net General Delivery, Lasqueti Island, British Columbia V0R 2J0 (250) 333-8747
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