I blogged last month about an Ottawa police officer recently granted a discharge by a judge after being found guilty of brutalizing his children, one of them in diapers.
His staff sergeant just can’t wait to have him back. His disgraced underling is supposedly a level-headed fellow who treats people appropriately. (Ironically, the officer was once commended for assistance in the matter of a young child in distress—not his own, however.) This friendly intervention is to be found in a pre-sentencing report, kept secret upon the request of the prosecution, even though it had been entered as an exhibit in open court.
Vern White, Ottawa’s police chief, isn’t content to leave matters thus. He will be charging the officer with discreditable conduct under the Ontario Police Services Act.
Good luck with that.
Those of us freshly outraged by the judicial wrist-slap for a child-beater may remember the kid-gloves treatment meted out to Martin Cardinal, caught on video smashing a woman’s head onto the back of his police cruiser. Note in the actual video of the event (see below, @33) that the officer looks up and down the street as he assaulted Julie Cayer—which surely speaks for itself.
The man was placed off-duty on full pay as his trials continued—for five years. During that time, on the ratepayers’ nickel, he went to university and got himself a degree. At the end of it all, he was convicted of assault and given a draconian punishment: 75 hours of community service (which, when you think about it, police are already paid to provide).
Further charges under the Ontario Police Services Act were heard by a former police superintendent, Robert Fitches, who fined him 8 hours pay—and ordered his reinstatement. He’s been back on active duty since 2006, serving and protecting.
Who said a policeman’s lot is not a happy one?
