Latest news with #policewatchdog
CBC
3 days ago
- CBC
Ontario's police watchdog investigating after person falls to death from Toronto balcony
Ontario's police watchdog is investigating after a person fell to their death from a Toronto balcony early Tuesday morning, police say. The incident happened around 2 a.m., Toronto police spokesperson Laura Brabant said in an email. Officers responded to a call for a person in crisis near Church Street and The Esplanade. The person in crisis fell from a balcony and "succumbed to their injuries," Brabant said. Three officers suffered non-life threatening injuries during the incident, she said. Paramedics said they were called to 1 Church Street around 2:20 a.m. after reports of a fall. An adult man was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries, they said. Church Street is currently closed from Front Street to The Esplanade.
CBC
04-06-2025
- General
- CBC
Former Edmonton homicide detective charged with breach of trust
Social Sharing A former Edmonton police officer has been charged with breach of trust for sharing confidential investigative information with the media without authorization. Retired Staff Sgt. Bill Clark was charged Tuesday, Edmonton Police Service said in a news release. Police provided few details about the allegations, but said the investigation was conducted by the Edmonton Police Service Professional Standards Branch with oversight from the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team, the province's police watchdog. The investigation was reviewed by the Alberta Crown Prosecution Services in Calgary to determine if criminal charges were warranted. Prosecutors recommended the former officer be charged with one count of breach of trust, police said. Police declined to provide further details on the investigation as the case is currently before the court. CBC News reached Clark Wednesday but he declined to comment on the charge or the investigation. Clark served 44 years with Edmonton police before his retirement in May 2024. He was a high-profile and vocal member of the EPS and his tenure with the service was not without controversy. In 2011, his remarks about a homicide at busy nightclub triggered a complaint from the victim's widow, who suggested he had unfairly labelled Edmonton's Somali community as unwilling to co-operate with police. Following the shooting, Clark had expressed his frustration that only one witness gave police a description of a suspect even though the club was full of people. In 2018, he faced a formal complaint for comments he made about criminals and the death penalty during a guest lecture at the University of Alberta. A group of law students later stepped forward to defend his remarks. He was ultimately docked 10 hour's pay. A longtime homicide detective, he was known for his candid approach to media interviews. He served as detective on a string of high-profile murder and missing persons cases. Before he retired in 2024, he was suspended without pay, pending the outcome of the professional standards branch investigation. Breach of trust is an indictable offence and can result in a sentence of up to 14 years.
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Inspector who phoned sex workers on duty banned
A police inspector who made hundreds of calls on a force mobile phone to sex workers over six years, many while he was working, has been banned from policing. Greater Manchester Police said Toby Knight had resigned from the force on Wednesday, the day before he was due to appear before a disciplinary panel. The panel ruled that Insp Knight would have been sacked if he had not resigned. Amanda Rowe, director of the police watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), said: "Insp Knight's actions are compounded by the fact the communication was so extensive and over a very long period of time." The IOPC, whose anti-corruption unit investigated Knight, said the officer, who had served for 17 years, was found to have "breached the Standards of Professional Behaviour for authority, respect and courtesy, discreditable conduct, honesty and integrity and orders and instructions". He was arrested on 2 April 2024 and accepted during questioning he had contacted sex workers while on duty. A review of his work mobile phone calls identified adult sex workers were contacted 245 times between September 2018 and March 2024, with 176 calls taking place while he was working. In addition, a study of his personal mobile phone showed 357 communications with sex workers between May 2023 and April 2024 - 259 outgoing and 98 incoming. Investigators matched numbers on adverts for sex workers to those Knight had called. They also spoke with sex workers contacted by Knight who confirmed text exchanges with him. Ms Rowe also said: "Cases such as these have the real potential to impact on public confidence in the police." Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230. Independent Office for Police Conduct
CTV News
28-05-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Man injured during Mental Health Act arrest in Surrey, B.C., watchdog says
Investigators from B.C.'s Independent Investigations Office are seen in this file photo from the IIO. A man was injured during a Mental Health Act arrest in Surrey, B.C., earlier this month, prompting an investigation by the province's police watchdog. The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. said the incident happened on the afternoon of May 9, while members of the Surrey RCMP Provincial Operations Support Unit were responding to a 'disturbance call' at a residential building near 34 Avenue and 152 Street. 'After arriving, officers located one man who had reportedly been in possession of a weapon and moved to detain him under the Mental Health Act,' the IIO said in a news release Tuesday. 'The man suffered injuries during the arrest process and was then taken to a hospital for treatment.' The watchdog didn't learn of the incident until May 21, when it was notified by the Surrey Police Service. It's unclear what led to the delay. An SPS spokesperson declined to comment when contacted by CTV News. An IIO spokesperson said these types of delays are typically the result of police being unaware of the severity of a person's injuries. 'Whether that was the case in this instance will be determined during the IIO investigation,' the spokesperson told CTV News, in an email. The IIO only investigates officer-involved incidents that result in death or serious harm, which includes injuries that cause serious disfigurement or disabilities. The watchdog is tasked with investigating those incidents whether or not there is any allegation of wrongdoing on the part of police.
CBC
28-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
SIU clears York Region police after man died following 'medical distress' in holding cell
Social Sharing Ontario's police watchdog says York Region police officers are not at fault after a man died in February after going into "medical distress" in a Richmond Hill holding cell. The man, 33, turned himself in at a police station on an arrest warrant for breach of probation around 3 p.m. on Feb. 11, according to the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) report, released Wednesday. Police searched the man and found a small bag that was later suspected to contain crystal methamphetamine, as well as a crack pipe, the report said. Close to midnight, the man was seen on video retrieving what appeared to be "a quantity of drugs from inside his underwear," the report says. He then formed white lines of powder with the substance and snorted them. Around 1 a.m., police contacted paramedics after they noticed the man was shaking after watching him on a video monitor. Officers attempted to speak to the man, who was unable to communicate other than to agree when asked if he suffered from seizures. The man then soon lost vital signs. Police performed CPR and administered a dose of nasal narcan. Paramedics took the man to the hospital. He was pronounced dead around 1:50 a.m. The man's cause of death is not yet known, the report said. Police quickly provided medical care, SIU director says In his decision, SIU Director Joseph Martino said the first concern in determining police liability was understanding how the man was able to bring and consume suspected drugs inside the cell. Martino said the police searches conducted before the man went into the cell "seem to have been conducted in a thorough fashion." As the drugs seem to have been in the man's underwear, he said it was not surprising police failed to find them. Officers did consider conducting a strip search, but that was denied by a sergeant. "Given the circumstances that prevailed – a detainee having turned himself in seemingly good health and unimpaired – I am unable to reasonably conclude that a strip search was necessarily warranted in this case," Martino wrote. Another issue was whether police sufficiently supervised the man when he was in custody. While police did not routinely physically check the man, Martino wrote he was checked via video monitor roughly every 30 minutes while in the cell, "and that none of those checks gave rise for concern." Martino also found officers detected the man's apparent drug consumption "in fairly short order" and quickly provided medical care.
