A report describing the usual harassment of the Toronto Police Service could make it easier for some members to try to get justice through the courts and tribunals, says a lawyer representing an officer who claims she was repeatedly harassed and degraded by her gender and their ethnicity.
But without taking the next step and holding individual officers accountable, a change in police force culture can be as difficult as ever, says Angelo Sciacca.
“I think the time for words is over. We have heard the police make statements to the media. They can be just empty words. They have to take this report and turn it into action,” he said in an interview.
Sciacca represents a police officer CTV News Toronto is not identifying because it is concerned about further harassment. It has been called “Darya” as a pseudonym.
In February, Darya filed a modified application with the Ontario Court of Human Rights alleging a pattern of harassment that spanned more than a decade. The Toronto police service has denied his allegations in informal responses to the request, his lawyer said.
In an incident in March 2011, the complainant said that her partner intentionally closed the door of a car on the leg of someone who was arresting her. When she objected, he “hit her hard on the left chest,” she said in the request.
He claims that senior officers did not conduct a proper investigation, including taking pictures of his wound, and the Toronto Police Association told him not to charge because she was a “girlfriend” and that would ruin the his career.
“The applicant was expected to endure the assault of male officers to keep her job,” the record says.
“When he reported the incident, he faced almost immediate retaliation. He was told not to go any further, he was called a rat and a liar, his car was locked and the dog’s excrement was left on the windshield and that was in a police parking lot, “Sciacca said.
Darya, who is of Iranian descent, was called “lonely” to avoid alcohol-focused social gatherings, her classmates told her to take an English as a Second Language course even though she speaks four languages with fluency and faces sexual comments about her body. , says the app.
The case alleges that the harassment he suffered is systemic, and Scaccia says the report released this week may help him prove it in court.
According to a survey commissioned to Deloitte by the Toronto Police Service, 60% of the 908 people surveyed said they had suffered or witnessed harassment or discrimination within the TPS over the past five years.
Source: Toronto Police Service
The report found that nearly 1 in four officers said they had witnessed or suffered harassment. About 24% witnessed and about 12% suffered sexual harassment. About 16 percent were witnesses and about 22 percent experienced discrimination at work.
Source: Toronto Police Service
The report was dated March 2022 and was published on the same day that the TPS apologized for systemic racism after its own data showed that it used more force against black and racialized people.
“Harassment and discrimination have no place in our organization,” TPS Board Chairman Jim Hart said in a statement released this week.
“The Board and the Service are dedicated to listening and doing better every day, and we remain committed to fostering a progressive and inclusive culture. We know that doing so will benefit each and every member, as well as the communities we are very proud to serve. “
The force said it had joined a working group on police-friendly jobs, made up of 16 police services across the province, has renewed its harassment investigation process and added training against harassment for all supervisors and senior officers. More than 1,000 supervisors have received this training to date.