Orangeville police under fire

News and stories about instances of police misconduct and other police-related material.

Orangeville police under fire

Postby Thomas » Sun Sep 16, 2012 4:01 am

ORANGEVILLE—These are tense times for police in this normally quiet small town. Controversy is swirling around how the police force is doing its job, pitting a decorated sergeant and community activists against the force’s chief and police services board.

Fuelled by allegations of poor training, sloppy work and mishandling of a high-profile murder case, a citizen’s group is calling for an independent review of the town’s force.

At the centre of the controversy is Sgt. Curtis Rutt, 52, a decorated officer who has suggested in a report obtained by the Toronto Star that police Chief Joseph Tomei be suspended, pending an independent review of his leadership.

In his report, Rutt accuses Tomei of providing inadequate training for officers, resulting in junior officers not conducting proper investigations before making arrests.

In December, Rutt delivered the report to the local police services board, calling for a citizen review of the force under Section 25 of the Police Services Act.

“That does not even merit a comment from me,” said Tomei.

He also pointed out that “this person is under Police Act charges and an ongoing investigation.”

The criticisms that Rutt levies against Tomei in his report relate directly to the charges is facing under the Police Services Act. Rutt has been charged with neglect of duty for not making an immediate arrest while investigating a domestic abuse allegation in February 2009, and a charge of insubordination. He has pleaded not guilty to both.

Those charges were supposed to be heard at a disciplinary hearing on Friday that was postponed at the last moment when the prosecutor called in sick. Activists who had banned together through Facebook had planned to show up en masse in support of Rutt.

Rutt declined to comment on either the charges he is facing or his report, citing breach of confidence rules.

Many locals call Rutt a scapegoat and a hero.

“He’s one of the good guys,” said Stephanie Cliche, 28, who has been circulating posters urging a review of the force. “He’s one of the ones who’s well-trained and who should be in the police force.”

Rutt won the Medal of Bravery in 2001 from then Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, while he was a member of the tactical unit of Waterloo Regional Police.

Cliche became energized to join the fight to overhaul the town’s police force after her friend, Adam Sprague, 25, died while in police custody last November.

Tomei said he can’t comment on the Sprague death, other than to say it was “very sad and very tragic” and that it’s under investigation by the provincial Special Investigations Unit (SIU).

“The matter is still under investigation by the SIU,” Tomei said. “All our members are cooperating with the investigation. I empathise with the people who are awaiting results from the SIU investigation. But we have to follow due process.”

A large number of the force’s critics want the entire 39-member force for the community of 27,000 to be disbanded, and replaced with the Ontario Provincial Police.

The local newspaper, The Orangeville Banner, recently ran a poll, in which 91 per cent of 2,350 respondents supported the local police force being replaced by the Ontario Provincial Police.

Cliche and other critics have drawn up a laundry list of complaints, besides a call for answers into Sprague’s death.

Those complaints include:

•the unsolved murder of nurse Sonia Varaschin in her home last summer. Her family reportedly learned key details of the investigation through the media.

•the unsolved assault of photographer Shelley Loder of neighbouring Mono Township in December.

•questions of whether police should have protected resident Heidi Ferguson, who was killed last September by her estranged husband, who then killed himself.

•the failure to search for two missing young women, which pushed their families to find their bodies themselves in November. They had committed suicide.

Rutt and other critics have called for an independent review of the force under the Ontario Civilian Police Commission.

Dissatisfaction with the force has spawned a number of Facebook pages, including “We want answers about Adam Sprague’s passing,” which was established by local resident Damian Huckle, 42.

“Adam was a friend,” Huckle said. “I was floored with what happened.”

The civilian police commission has the power to discipline individual officers, including a chief, as well as police services board members. It can also order restructuring and other changes on a force.

The city’s mayor, Rob Adams, who sits on the local police services board said Friday he will not comment until Police Act charges are resolved.

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article ... under-fire
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