Members of the Toronto Police Services Board passed a motion Tuesday to welcome a public airing of allegations of police corruption, but it would be years before an inquiry could be held.

The motion stated that an inquiry would have to wait until the resolution of the criminal trials of six former drug squad officers, which are set to begin in January 2008.

'That's just passing the buck. That's turning around saying that in X number of years this will hopefully become a dead issue.'-Lawyer Leo Kinahan

It also said Ontario Attorney General Michael Bryant should call for an inquiry "if there are any significant issues still outstanding" at the conclusion of all criminal proceedings.

Board vice-chair Pam McConnell defended the motion, saying it walked the "fine line" between airing concerns about the force and protecting the cases before the courts.

"I don't think we have anything to hide, but at the same time I don't think we want to jeopardize any of the proceedings that are going on in the courts," said McConnell.

Police dodging the issue again, lawyer says

Leo Kinahan, a lawyer representing police whistleblower Sgt. Jim Cassells, who accused the force of sweeping serious allegations of police wrongdoing under the carpet, said the board's decision shows police are still dodging the issues.

Findings of a review into allegations by police whistleblower Sgt. Jim Cassells were not released at Tuesday's meeting. The police board put off making the review public until six criminal cases against ex-drug squad officers are resolved.
(CBC)

"That's just passing the buck," he said. "That's turning around saying that in X number of years this will hopefully become a dead issue."

He says the board hopes people will forget about the scandal and it will all "just fade away quietly."

In May, Cassells said police brass had for years been covering up, refusing to investigate or burying cases of alleged police brutality, public complaints and internal corruption.

Cassells was part of a special internal task force called together in 2001 to probe allegations of officer theft and perjury.

Police board puts off releasing findings of review

Police Chief Bill Blair called for a "procedural review" of Cassells' allegations shortly after Cassells went to the media with them.

The review has been completed and its findings were expected to be made public at Tuesday's police board meeting.

But police board chair Alok Mukherjee instead announced the review's findings will be kept under wraps to keep from compromising the criminal cases.

Behind closed doors, the police chief briefed board members on some details concerning the whistleblowers' allegations.

Speaking to reporters, though, Blair minimized concerns and said he couldn't discuss them due to criminal cases before the court.

Pressures on the police force to make the report public recently intensified after a second police whistleblower, Neal Ward, came forward to support Cassells' allegations. Ward, who recently retired, also worked on the special task force.

Sources say the task force had a list of 14 cases that supervisors failed to follow through on. The list includes accusations that some former drug squad officers operated a drug ring and another drug team stole millions from suspects.