Interesting opinion piece on problems in the Ottawa Police --- personally I think with the new chief, on the way he came across on going after people for months the problems have gotten worse.
https://westernstandardonline.com/2022/02/criminologist-says-convoy-cleaned-up-ottawa-police/Criminologist says convoy cleaned up Ottawa police
Saskatchewan-born Carleton criminology professor Darryl Davies says his decade of complaints fell on deaf ears until the trucker convoy revealed Ottawa police dysfunction.
mmPublished 19 hours ago on February 27, 2022By Lee Harding
Carleton University Criminology Professor Darryl Davies says that he has spent ten years trying to expose corruption at the Ottawa police but only since the trucker convoy has anything changed.
In an interview with Western Standard, Davies described a dysfunctional police force that numbers 1,500 officers.
“We’ve had so many officers facing charges under the Police Services Act of Ontario, for everything from rape to excessive use of force to fraud,” said Davies.
“We have 20 police officers right now in Ottawa that are at home watching Netflix courtesy of the taxpayers because they get paid while they’re suspended and they’re facing criminal charges.”
Until recently, Deputy Police Chief Uday Jaswal was among those on paid leave, suspended in March 2020 after allegations of sexually harassing three employees. After 23 years on the force, he resigned February 24, days before the Ontario Civilian Police Commission (OCPC) was to hear evidence and testimony from his accusers.
“The last six years we’ve had over 60 Ottawa police officers charged. We’ve had morale issues. We’ve had horrific examples of bad decision-making towards women who have come forward with allegations of sexual assault. It was so bad the Fifth Estate actually did a program on it, and (former chief Peter) Sloly wouldn’t be interviewed for that,” said Davies.
Sloly himself had a disciplinary hearing against him while still with the Toronto Metropolitan Police. Davies wonders why Sloly was hired, given his controversial reputation and the fact the hearing was leaked and posted to YouTube. He was not a good choice to clean up the force, according to Davies.
“At one point, there were 14 women who indicated that they had been sexually harassed or whatever at work. And instead of having an outside police agency come in and investigate, he said he was going to deal with it as an internal matter,” Davies said of Sloly.
“There was chaos at the Ottawa police service. We’ve learned that when Sloly was calling for resources from the federal and provincial governments that he needed assistance, the reality is that many of the officers were calling in sick because they wouldn’t work for him.”
Sloly resigned during the weeks of the trucker convoy, and Ottawa police services board chief Diane Deans hired an interim chief without a competition. She was removed by the mayor from the board and three other members of the board also resigned.
“The only good thing that’s come out of the truckers protest is in a week, we got rid of the chief and four members of the Ottawa Police Services Board. But isn’t it sad that it took this kind of event to precipitate that,” Davies said.
The 74-year-old professor, who received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Saskatchewan, said he and the editor of Ottawa Life magazine have tried to bring attention to police problems for ears. He says their complaint to the OCPC two years ago was not dealt with. In 2020, Ontario Attorney General Doug Downey replied to a letter from Davies to say he would pass it on to the Solicitor General of Ontario, Sylvia Jones. Jones directed Davies to the OCPC, whom he had already complained to.
“I’ve been here for many years. And for the last 12, have been writing about policing issues in this city. And we’ve had major problems with policing in Ottawa. And I’m not the only one to say that,” said Davies.
“The mainstream media have presented a rosy picture of the Ottawa police and even its chief, and no one has gone behind the scenes and asked the tough questions. And I think that’s why the public probably in Ottawa, are really shocked by what they’re hearing.”
Davies says a public inquiry on the police response to the convoy is likely and also necessary. He believes most of the charges protesters received in Ottawa won’t stick.
“This is not a good time for Canada. And I also predict that if you do a follow-up of the people that are charged that 85% of charges will be dismissed in court because they will be a violation of the individual’s charter rights and freedoms. The cops can go and do whatever they want. At the end of the day the courts will decide, not the police, and thank God, not the politicians.”
Lee Harding is a Western Standard contributor living in Saskatchewan.
