Secret memos detail allegations of police dishonesty, misconduct
CBC
In a January 2021 ruling, an Ontario Court Justice criticized Toronto police officers for entering a suspected stash house and looking in a partly-opened suitcase, kitchen cupboard, washroom vanity, and an ottoman — before a warrant arrived.
Justice Mara Greene ultimately allowed the evidence against the accused, who was targeted as part of a drug investigation dubbed Project Sparta. But she didn't let the officers go uncriticized.
"The search conducted by the officers was outside the scope permitted by law," Greene wrote in her decision.
Had the name of the accused not appeared in a Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC) memo, members of the public might never have known about Greene's comments.
That's because many of the memos the PPSC prepares describing allegations of police misconduct are heavily redacted before being released via access to information legislation.
CBC News obtained PPSC memos whose blacked-out pages suggest the government's censorship could conceal information already aired in an open courtroom.
In cases where the name of the accused was not redacted, it is possible to locate publicly-available court records and fill in the information the PPSC may have censored before the memo's release.
Without that, it's impossible to learn more about other misconduct allegations.
James Turk, director of Toronto Metropolitan University's Centre for Free Expression, said records relating to allegations of police dishonesty "should be entirely in the public domain."
"They don't have a right to secrecy just because they're a police officer," Turk said. "In fact, it's the exact opposite."
As a federal agency, PPSC lawyers must notify their superior in writing when a judge finds or suggests that a police witness has given intentionally false or misleading evidence under oath. It is also required to share that information with police for a possible investigation. The service must also do so when police officers are accused of discriminating on the basis of race, religion, sexual orientation, or other factors.
In a 2018 directive, PPSC officials said staff must also notify management of alleged crime and other misconduct committed by "justice system participants," including police.
In 2021, Ontario Court Justice Cecile Applegate found that Ontario Provincial Police officers Stephen Finch, since retired, and Chris Prout had "consciously or subconsciously" zeroed in on a suspect because he is Black.
"He was subject to racial profiling, which is an affront to human dignity," Applegate said in a judgement, before acquitting the defendant, who was arrested by police in a vehicle containing drugs and a loaded handgun. "You can't conduct a criminal investigation of a man who stops for gas at a gas station simply because he's Black in Midland," defence lawyer Jordana Goldlist said, referring to the town about a two hours' drive north of Toronto.