POLICE CORRUPTION

There have been two stories in the K-W Record the last few days discussing police corruption in Toronto and Montreal. On January 17, 2012 the Record had the following story "Police corruption trial told officers beat drug dealers". On January 19/12 (yesterday) the Record published this story " Ex-officer with alleged Mob links kills himself: reports". The January 17 story is about an ongoing trial in Toronto involving five former Toronto drug squad officers. They are accused of "...violent shakedowns," beating up drug dealers, stealing their money and then lying to cover their tracks...". This case has been a $14 million investigation into members of the Toronto drug squad. Initial charges were laid in 2004 and it is just now getting to trial. You know we all watch television shows showing us dirty and corrupt cops and we want to believe that it doesn't exist. This ongoing case isn't the first and most likely not the last. Truth is stranger than fiction and many human beings in positions of authority tend to behave very badly.

The second story dated January 19 concerns a retired Montreal Police Officer who worked in the intelligence unit of the Montreal force. La Presse newspaper named him as an alleged mole the same day that his body was found in a hotel room. Suicide is suspected. This was also one day after the Montreal Police Chief publicly pledged to get to the bottom of allegations that there was a mole in his department allegedly selling informants names to the Mob. The Police Chief indicated that the retired officer did have access to the names of confidential informants. I guess my only surprise is that there are not more allegations across Canada of more minor Police misconduct. Human beings are weak and power without accountability and transparency corrupts. Apparently it is standard operating practice for Municipalities not to properly supervise and oversee their regional and municipal police forces. The shame in this is not just those who are immediately victimized but those good police officers who are stigmatized by the dirty ones.