Police service Ombudsman's advice (Windsor Star)

Police service Ombudsman's advice
Windsor Star
Editorial
Jan. 5, 2012

A scathing report by Andre Marin helped accelerate the sudden retirement of former police chief Gary Smith two weeks ago, and now Ontario's ombudsman has some advice about who should replace him.

Marin is urging the Windsor Police Services Board to take advantage of this "unique opportunity" to change the culture and attitude of the force and hire a chief who will "co-operate" with the Special Investigations Unit.

"You have an opportunity here to really imbue the leader of the police with the standards you expect from your police agency," he said. His first question to a candidate? "What would you do if the SIU told you there were problems co-operating with the agency?"

It's no secret the ombudsman has a bone to pick with forces right across the province, and he's on a mission to have the government legislate stiff penalties for police chiefs who refuse to follow the law and report incidents of serious injury or death involving officers to the provincial watchdog.

But his sweeping indictment set off a chain reaction in Windsor, where it was learned that Smith ignored letters from SIU, and failed to report an incident involving Dr. Tyceer Abouhassan, who was allegedly beaten so severely by a detective that he required emergency surgery to repair a detached retina.

Peeling back the layers, it became clear an unacceptable number of questionable actions have been committed by Windsor police officers over the last few years. There are allegations of coverups and there are also several lawsuits that could cost taxpayers plenty.

The board needs to do more than just ask a candidate how he or she would deal with SIU. It needs to know how a new chief would deal with some of the more alarming behaviour within the force; a deeply rooted culture where the top cop either can't or won't control the actions of the rank and file.

Nobody who assumes this job and does it right will be welcomed into the fold with open arms. But the successful candidate will, hopefully, restore public faith in the integrity of the Windsor Police Service.

To do that - to change the culture - the board must look outside the Windsor Police Service for a viable candidate. The force needs new ideas and new blood, and it needs someone who can come in and conduct a sweeping review of practices without baggage and with objectivity.

Mayor Eddie Francis, who also chairs the Windsor Police Services Board, has made it clear that's precisely what he intends to do, and the search can't start soon enough.

"The changes we're looking at are going to be resolved with a number of continual actions and not any one single action or one single step," he said.

He also said there's no going back to the "status quo," which suggests this wasn't just a situation that developed during Smith's tenure as chief. This is a pervasive problem that goes back decades.

The board obviously has a difficult job ahead, because Windsor residents are in no mood to tolerate officers who break the law.