2011-11-29
By Joe Warmington
It’s either a smoking gun or a whole bunch of smoke.
Either way, there are simple questions that should be answered.
Did Chief Bill Blair, and his command officers, order police constables to arrest anybody donning a bandana or gas mask during the G20 Sunday — June 27, 2010 — or not?
Did they also order them to search people’s backpacks, and if they refused, to just arrest them?
Documents released yesterday of an investigation by the Office of the Independent Police Review Director quotes two Toronto Police officers saying this was their understanding.
However, the chief’s spokesman, Mark Pugash, says there are “inaccuracies” in these accusations, which will be addressed Tuesday after a news conference in front of Toronto Police Service Headquarters.
Jason Wall and his counsel, Davin Charney, will release details of an investigation by the OIPRD and on a settlement for his unwarranted arrest and detainment.
In his original $25,000 statement of claim filed in small claims court, Wall says he was “walking up Yonge Street by himself when officers arrested him because he was wearing a bandanna around his neck.”
He spent 28 hours in custody in the Eastern Ave. temporary detention centre and says he “was forced to wear handcuffs for more than 20 hours, slept on the floor, and had to submit to a degrading strip search after which he was released without charge.”
Said Charney: “Remember Jason Wall was not protesting when he was mobbed by as many as 20 Toronto Police Service officers as they poured out of the Delta Chelsea Hotel the morning of Sunday, June 27, 2010. Actually, he was on his way to church and there was no protest in sight.”
Wall Tuesday will also release the actual OIPRD investigation which quotes police officers Const. Blair Begbie and Const. Vincent Wong telling investigators their version of events. The report says “Sgt. Gibb advised Const. Begbie that he had just come from a meeting with the chief of police and he had specific instructions for that day.”
It does not say which chief of police.
But it does go on to say Begbie said Gibb told him “that came from command was that anybody wearing a bandana or mask or gas mask concealing their identity were to be arrested for disguise with intent and I specifically wrote that in my book that morning.”
He added after the briefing, the mood went from being upset to people being “excited, like we finally were going to be able to take some action and prevent what’s happening.”
Begbie admitted if he had not been “given the information” he would not have made the arrest.
Whatever way it’s looked at, it’s just not constitutional to profile, search or arrest somebody based on what their appearance and with no other information of criminality — particularly when the actual crime spree was 24 hours earlier by people who were not arrested.
Meanwhile, Wong told the OIPRD investigators “we were given specific direction in regards to people that were wearing banners (bandanas), gas mask, goggles and that they were going to be arrestable or that they were to be arrested for disguise with intent, which is a Criminal Code offence and as well anyone with a backpack was to be searched and if they refused to be (searched) then they would be arrestable for obstruct police which is a criminal offence and as well as people, weapons including bottles and canisters of liquid were to be investigated and arrested for possession of weapons.”
Lawyer Charney charges this “report shows that senior command directed officers to make unlawful arrests” and that “wearing a bandana or refusing to allow police to look in your backpack are not criminal offences. We now have proof that many arrests were not the result of a few bad apples or overreaction by officers on the ground. The orders came from the top.”
But Chief Blair is already on record saying “I wasn’t directly involved in operational decisions.”
Perhaps the Morden Inquiry will one day release details of the meeting’s minutes, and any orders given, to clear this up?
Or Toronto Police can release them.