Defense attorney and independent candidate Naomi Sayers said she had been pushed back last month, intimidated by Sault’s police officer.
A civilian oversight agency that handles public complaints against police in Ontario has decided not to investigate allegations of misconduct against a Sault police officer.
In a complaint filed with the Office of the Independent Director of Police Review (OIPRD), local defense attorney Naomi Sayers claimed that an agent of Sault Ste had approached her and intimidated her. The headquarters of the Marie Police Service during an incident that allegedly took place last month.
Sayers is running as an independent candidate for Sault Ste. Marie ran in the next provincial election after the Liberals in Ontario denied her candidacy to run under the Liberal flag at the local level.
“The OIPRD is aware of your concerns; however, the director has decided not to proceed with your complaints because we have determined that it would not be in the public interest to do so, “OIPRD researcher John Biggerstaff said in a letter to Sayers. The Police Services Act sets out criteria for the selection of public complaints and allows the OIPRD to decide which complaints should and should not be investigated. While we understand that you may have perceived the officer’s actions to be inappropriate, a review of this complaint has determined that he or she did not meet the misconduct threshold.
“Therefore, given all the circumstances, it is not in the public interest to investigate the complaint.”
Contacted by phone on Tuesday, Sayers told SooToday that she disagrees with the decision that the complaint does not meet the misconduct threshold and that it is not in the public interest to investigate.
“I think at least they should have investigated it from a public interest perspective,” he said.
Sayers tried to retrieve security camera footage of the incident at Sault Police Headquarters, but was informed that police cameras had not been recorded for the past eight months due to a cyberattack. which took place last August.
Police told SooToday earlier this month that security cameras have resumed recording from May 2.
“For them just to say, it wasn’t recording, now we turn it on, that’s suspicious too,” Sayers said.
Sayers has not decided whether to appeal the decision through a judicial review to the High Court.