Senior Toronto police officer who allowed nephew to leave collision found guilty of misconduct
CTV
A senior Toronto police officer has been found guilty of two professional misconduct charges after allowing her nephew to leave the scene of a single-vehicle crash in 2022.
A senior Toronto police officer has been found guilty of two professional misconduct charges after allowing her nephew to leave the scene of a single-vehicle crash in 2022.
On Wednesday, Toronto Police Service (TPS) Inspector Joyce Schertzer was found guilty on one count each of discreditable conduct and neglect of duty at a police tribunal hearing in downtown Toronto. Schertzer was found not guilty on a third count of neglect of duty.
The high-ranking officer has been with the service for more than three decades.
On May 1, 2022, Schertzer’s nephew crashed his pick-up truck into a city-owned utility pole on Lakeshore Boulevard. According to Schertzer’s testimony at a June hearing, she received a call from her daughter, also a police officer, informing her of the collision not long after.
The tribunal heard that Schertzer, working at 11 Division that day, arranged for an officer from her division to be "dispatched" to 14 Division where the crash occurred, circumventing the usual priority system “to the benefit of [her] family." Schertzer previously testified that she thought Lake Shore Boulevard West was in 11 Division, not 14, which border one another.
Schertzer also showed up at the scene and became “actively involved in the investigation,” the tribunal heard.
She testified in June that she did not visit the scene of the crash to interfere with the investigation but rather, to make sure her nephew was well and safe.
