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Corruption scandal shames
Toronto police

Ajit Jain in Toronto

When this reporter migrated to Canada 20 years back, he was constantly reminded by Indo-Canadians who had preceded him a few years earlier, that there's no corruption in this country, no bribery in any department of the government, no haggling over sticker prices of merchandise in stores.

These good intentioned people should now read about the desperation of the Metro Toronto Police chief Julian Fantino - himself an Italian-Canadian - against his own police officers as he is compelled to call on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to investigate into allegations of perjury and theft in a corruption scandal involving dozens of police officers.

There are front page reports for two days in mainstream newspapers in which disturbing revelations have been made: a total of 115 court cases, investigated by 13 police officers, allegedly themselves involved in criminal charges, have now been thrown out, and there are indications that more cases may end the same way.

Dozens of accused in criminal cases have walked free because of these scuttled cases, reports say. Last year, the federal government had reported that 47 cases thrown out of court involved 81 accused.

And these cases ranged from not very serious charges to very serious charges, David Littlefield, a senior lawyer with the Department of Justice is quoted as saying.

RCMP Chief Superintendent John Nealy is conducting the investigation. Fantino calls it a "sad passage in the history of the Toronto Police Service" adding that a "significant number" of criminal cases could be affected by the investigation.

Toronto Police Association chief Craig Bromell has to come to the sides of the police officers. "What he (police chief) did will cause damage to the (police) 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 said.

There are allegations of theft from the so-called "fink fund" of the Metro Police, which is a reserve of cash used to pay off informants, there are allegations of stealing of seized drugs for trafficking, etc.

As many as eight drug squad police officers have been charged with theft, fraud and forgery in connection with the "fink fund" investigation.

People involved in serious criminal charges have been released from jail after the crown attorneys conceded there had been a "miscarriage of justice."

In one case, a drug squad officer, facing criminal charges, was involved in the investigation.

"I can't undo what has happened here," Fantino was quoted as saying. "But I can't certainly 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," he said.

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