It is somewhat heartening that the Toronto police board, which has traditionally enjoyed harmonious relations with the Toronto Police, is showing a bit of spine.
As reported in today's Star, the board is refusing to accept Chief Bill Blair's recommendation for the promotion of nine officers who brought discredit to themselves and the force, not to mention undermined public respect for the police, by removing their name tags during the G20 demonstrations last year.
Apparently the police association, which is filing a grievance on behalf of the offending officers, argues that they were already docked a day's pay for their misbehavior and that further punishment is unwarranted. Funny, I always thought a promotion was a reward for good work, not an automatic bump in pay grade.
One can only hope that the board is sending an unequivocal message to Bill Blair about who is really in charge of the police.
One thing one would expect from a police officer is for him/her to behave in a professional manner. By not wearing their police identification, this demonstrated to me that they cannot be trusted to make professional judgements.
ReplyDeleteYes, those officers who were declined a promotion were disciplined for their actions. However, they were disciplined internally. The police board is an external organization which has oversight on professionalism and police conduct.
I can imagine that as that if I were to do something unprofessional as a teacher, a could receive a one-day suspension from my administrator or school board. Would that mean that the Ontario College of Teachers would not be able to take action against me future because I had already been disciplined once by my administrator?
Chief Blair recommended some officers for promotion. Remember that it was a recommendation. The police board is not required to accept all recommendations. That is why they are called "recommendations." I won't suggest that these officers should never be promoted. However, they should demonstrate in some way that they understand the professionalism of their positions of authority before they receive any promotions. They should consider themselves lucky that they did not get terminated.
Yours strikes me as a very fair and balanced position. Thanks for writing.
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