Rexdale cops had traffic ticket quota
Last Updated: Thursday, December 14, 2006 | 9:38 AM ET
CBC News
Police watchdog groups are furious after learning of a ticket quota scheme that a Rexdale platoon commander set up to let cops go home early if they wrote 25 traffic tickets.
The practice came to light Wednesday during the disciplinary tribunal of a constable facing a Police Services Act charge of insubordination.
Senior commanders at 23 Division told CBC News that they stepped in to quash the quotas last year, but concede that there was no investigation into the matter and no one was ever disciplined.
Toronto Police Services Board vice-chair Pam McConnell said she wants answers from the police Chief Bill Blair and assurances that the people responsible are properly reprimanded.
"This is against the policies of the board and also against the collective agreement," said McConnell. "I've not only never heard of it, if it exists, it should stop."
John Sewell of the Toronto Police Accountability Coalition called it "outrageous," especially in an area of the city in such serious trouble.
"There's serious kinds of allegations about crime and drug dealing that are happening all over the place," said Sewell. "And this is the response the police officer in charge of that division is giving? It's wrong. And my question is where's the chief on all this stuff?"
'There was no investigation conducted'
Insp. Kimberley Greenwood of 23 Division, who wasn't working in the division at the time, says the quota scheme was shut down last year.
Greenwood insists that officers who left early were never paid for hours left in their shift, but instead used up overtime they had banked. However, she admits no one ever probed the practice.
"There was no investigation conducted in regards to the practice, if you want to call it that," said Greenwood.
The judgment from the disciplinary hearing states that platoon commander Staff Sgt. Jack Kelly instituted the ticket quota scheme that became known as "25 and home."
Others in the division suggested the practice wasn't a significant issue because it would likely take most of the day to hand out that many tickets.
Const. David Deviney, a 30-year police veteran, was charged with insubordination in connection with an unrelated incident, but the judgment states that a number of incidents, including the ticket quota scheme, led to an acrimonious relationship with his superiors.
He was acquitted of the insubordination charge on Wednesday.
The disciplinary hearing officer in Deviney's case demanded the policy cease immediately if it still existed, calling it a "sad example" and an "affront to the public interest."
