East Indian OPP officer (former Toronto officer) terminated

The Ontario Human Rights Code is a provincial law that gives everybody equal rights and opportunities without discrimination in specific social areas such as jobs, housing, services, facilities, and contracts or agreements. The Code’s goal is to prevent discrimination and harassment because of race, sex, disability, and age, to name a few of the fifteen grounds. All other Ontario laws must agree with the Code.

East Indian OPP officer (former Toronto officer) terminated

Postby Lloyd » Wed Mar 28, 2012 1:43 pm

My name is Lloyd Tapp. I am an Ontario Provincial Police officer. I was born in the city of New Delhi, India in January of 1965. I am Indian by birth and the colour of my skin is brown. My father worked for the American Peace Corps and when they were closing offices in India my father immigrated to Canada along with his family. I was eleven years old when I came to Canada and entered the Canadian schooling system in grade 6. Due to my nationality and skin colour I was often the brunt of sarcastic and racial comments from school peers. In an attempt to assimilate to the Canadian culture I worked hard at trying to lose my Indian accent. It did not take me long and I felt I had accomplished this by the time I entered high school for I noticed the racial comments were not as prevalent as in the junior school.

I was always fascinated with the police and when I graduated from high school I worked for a couple of years before seeking and obtaining employment with the Toronto Police Service (TPS). My family was proud to see me achieve my goal of being a police officer especially because we were minorities that had come to a new country to make a new living. Not long after joining the TPS I got married.

The City of Toronto enjoys the privilege of having one of the most culturally diverse police services in Canada. Being a visible minority one feels right at home within this multicultural police service. This positive and encouraging environment has been instrumental in my achievement of:

    • Almost fifteen years with the TPS,
    • Including nine years in an investigative capacity at 42 division:
    • Community Response Unit,
    • Criminal Investigative Bureau,
    • Youth Bureau,
    • Sexual Assault Squad,
    • Child Abuse Investigations Unit,
    • Extensive exposure to the legal system and the various levels of court,
    • Excellent evaluation and commendations,
    • Prepared and executed numerous Criminal Code search warrants,
    • Never had a search warrant turned down,
    • Capable of (through experience) sitting down with an officer, listening to the pertinent details of a call he/she has been to and then preparing a search warrant for a specified premise/location.

All through my employment with the Toronto Police Service I was never subjected to any humiliating treatment and neither did I feel I was being targeted. I felt at home within the service. The service was extremely multicultural and obviously that had an impact on the unbiased and respectful interaction between the officers. However, that changed when I joined the Ontario Provincial Police.

In 2001, I started considering applying to the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP). The OPP had advertised earlier during the year that they were looking for experienced officers. Being that my wife was from the country and along with a growing family I considered the OPP. I felt that the country would be a comfortable and peaceful place to bring up my family. September 30th, 2001, was my last day with the Toronto Police Service. I commenced employment with the OPP on October 1st, 2001. Little did I know what I was going to be experiencing within this large rural organization.

My problems with the Ontario Provincial Police date back to 2001, when I was working out of the Cobourg Detachment, which is part of Northumberland OPP. I found the transition from years of policing in the large urban police force of Toronto to the rural policing of the OPP difficult. It was hard to instinctively change my modus operandi that was cultivated from the previous years with the Toronto Police Service. Where one would deal with one call at a time, it was now expected that one was supposed to drop whatever investigation they were in the middle of (whether that was a Break and Enter investigation, a theft complaint or even in the midst of taking a statement regarding an investigation) and respond as back up to an officer that was attending to something as simple as an alarm call or even dropping off an officer at another detachment. Even the way the Communication Centre dispatched calls was something that I had a lot of difficulty getting used to. From my perspective the OPP policing system was outdated and extremely inefficient and it still is to this date.

Needless to say, I was documented negatively about four or five times along with some positive documentation. During my one year probation period I was placed on a special review by my Staff Sergeant. I told them that this was a discriminatory practice since it scrutinized every action of the subject officer in minute detail while a multitude of other officers were committing the same infractions.

In an attempt to turn a new page and start afresh I accepted a lateral transfer with a female officer from the OPP detachment in Peterborough County. I was due to start at Peterborough Detachment on the 17th of March, 2003. Little did I know at that time that my old Staff Sergeant would be taking over as the detachment commander at Peterborough Detachment in 2007. Aside from me there was another visible minority officer at Peterborough Detachment, but due to his tenderness in years of service (less than a year in 2003) he was not about to complain. They were other minority officers, but they were of the same colour as everyone else, white.

In mid-February 2003, I attended Peterborough Detachment to meet with the Staff Sergeant to find out which platoon I was going to be on and who my Sergeant was going to be. I was there around 10:00 am and was standing at the threshold of the Staff Sergeant’s office. I was advised of his name and waited patiently to greet him. He was on the telephone and so I waited at the open doorway until he was off the telephone. After a couple of minutes he hung up and I knocked on the door nodding my head to him as he looked in my direction. Walking in, I introduced myself extending my hand for a handshake. He remained sitting behind his desk and just responded in an authoritative voice, 'So you are Tapp. Have a seat.' He went on to tell me how he had just got off the telephone with my Staff Sergeant from Northumberland County. He said the Staff Sergeant had nothing nice to say about me, in fact he said that I was nothing, but a problem. When I tried to say something, he just motioned with his hand extended towards my direction palm up stating that he had heard enough from the Staff Sergeant and that he would be watching me closely. He told me that I would be on ‘A’ platoon and also told me who my Sergeant would be. The whole meeting only lasted about a couple of minutes.

I had no idea of the ramifications of my old Staff Sergeant’s (now Inspector) comments to my new Staff Sergeant. He went out of his way to have a telephone conversation with my new Staff Sergeant and poisoned his mind about me thereby poisoning my future work environment. Though I knew this was discrimination and harassment I also knew that it was racial discrimination due to the fact that I was a visible minority. However, I was willing to let it slip by, since I was turning a new page. I thought because of my high work ethics they (the management) would see how I worked, talked, carried myself and the positive rapport that I was able to establish with my colleagues on my platoon would eventually change their opinion of me. Much later I started to see the ramifications.

I have been targeted by the Ontario Provincial Police at the Peterborough County OPP Detachment and this targeting has been supported by upper management of the organization’s General Headquarters in Orillia. The OPP carefully orchestrated and manipulated an approach towards me in a variety of scenarios in order to bring me in line with their ideology. The bulk of these incidents were dealt with by my applications to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. The Ontario Provincial Police Association refused to deal with my issues indicating that they do not deal with issues under the Human Rights Code (Code). One has to naturally wonder then, what they are good for.

The following telephone conversation made it clear to me what the Ontario Provincial Police Association does not do.

On Friday the 11th of April, 2008, I telephoned the OPP Association and spoke to the Chief Executive office. I advised him that I was sick and tired of the continued harassment and discrimination that I was experiencing at the Peterborough County OPP Detachment and OPP management. I explained some examples including the recent charges that I was facing under the Highway Traffic Act. I said that I felt like I was in a TV miniseries Roots where that young lad Kunta Kinte faced bare-faced racial discrimination wherever he went. I, on the other hand, was not facing the blatant racial discrimination that he faced, but I was most certainly facing discrimination by being targeted by the OPP.

I was surprised to be advised by Chief Executive Officer that the association did not deal with any offences under the Human Rights Code and that I would have to file a complaint with the OPP’s Professional Standards Bureau (PSB). I told him that it was wrong. How could one be expected to file a Human Rights complaint with a unit (PSB) that was constantly investigating him? I hung up feeling desperately alone.

Certain facts became very clear to me and shone through all of my complaints and my time at the Peterborough County OPP Detachment:

    • I was a visible minority.
    • I was not a local from the Peterborough area.
    • I came across as a person who knew more about policing than many of the personnel there and this intimidated them. In my almost fifteen years with the Toronto Police Service I had done more and had been exposed to more facets of policing than many of the other officers there would hope to. I also did not have to seek any assistance from anyone else, especially assistance from any of the supervisors in dealing with anything.
    • I was an "Undesirable" at the Peterborough County OPP Detachment.

I never experienced such treatment during my entire time with the Toronto Police Service.

Though I think I am not allowed to talk about the incidents between the dates of my application that were dealt with by a settlement on the 26th of March, 2010, I will talk about what has been happening after the settlement date.

My application with the Ontario Human Rights Commission involved a period of time between February 13th, 2005, and April 7th, 2009. I had five applications that involved allegations of numerous violations under the Code. The OPP did an administrative transfer and forced me to leave the Peterborough Detachment. They placed me at the City of Kawartha Lakes detachment, which is in Lindsay. I commenced working there on April 7th, 2009. I had a feeling from the first day there that things were not much different. I was called into the Inspector’s officer to meet him. Present was my platoon Sergeant and the administrative Staff Sergeant. My new inspector proceeded to lay down the law for me by telling me what he expects of me (the usage of the term ‘you’ as opposed to the term ‘everyone’ is specific) in an authoritative tone. This made me very uncomfortable especially since he was a past prosecutor in the OPP’s Professional Standards Bureau (PSB) and had been the prosecutor in one of the cases against me (I had many cases in PSB against me since the filling of my applications before the Ontario Human Rights Commission). Hence, though the personnel were much more mature, my environment was still poisoned and I felt racially marginalized.

After the meeting with the inspector my Sergeant took me out in his police vehicle to show me around the City of Kawartha Lakes. Numerous times he mentioned that he knew what I was going through and that I was being targeted. He also mentioned at various times during his conversations with me that he knew I did not trust anyone and that I could trust him. He even went on to mention that I should not trust some of the personnel at the detachment and named them. I guess he felt it incumbent to stress these points since I remained tight lipped about my experiences at Peterborough Detachment and for the most part of our ride along remained silent. When he stopped at a house somewhere in the north end I was told to remain in the vehicle while he greeted a lady who answered the door. He then went inside and the door closed. I had to wait in the vehicle for almost twenty to twenty five minutes. I felt it was rude to make me wait for so long while he visited a friend.

However, I became acutely aware of the feeling that I was racially marginalized on June the 6th, 2009. My Sergeant had referred to everyone during a shift briefing in the morning as numbskulls. When everyone had left his office I closed the door and told him I wanted to talk. I told him how displeased I was with the reference of everyone as numbskulls and that I took particular offense to being referred to with such a term. I told him that he knows that I had gone through a lot at the Peterborough County OPP Detachment. Though I was uncomfortable with such a reference I made it a point to ensure my tone of voice was calm. What happened next was utterly shocking. He was seated behind his desk and I was standing. He immediately shot up like a bolt of lightning and pointing his finger in my direction yelled, ‘How dare you accuse me of calling you names. I considered you a friend, if you think I am calling you names you go ahead and complain. I for one will not tolerate any of your complaints’. His anger and tone of voice literally shocked me into silence for a few moments. When I talked to him my right hand was bent at an acute angle to the elbow and the fingers were curled with the forefinger extended out as was my natural habit when addressing a concern of mine to another. In his berating he yelled at me to not point at him and to sit when addressing him. I turned a nearby chair around and pursing my lips continued to listen to him berate me. I ended my brief meeting with him by saying that I just felt that he was calling me a name and let’s leave it as a misunderstanding.

I truly felt alone and that nothing had changed with at new detachment posting. I knew then and there that no matter where I went in the OPP everything will follow behind – everything that the Sergeant meant by the use of the words, 'I for one will not tolerate any of your complaints.' It was true that even at this detachment my environment was poisoned.

I always had the feeling that I was deliberately left out of platoon social meeting like the regular night shift social at Tim Horton`s in Fenelon Falls. Where, sometime after midnight one would ask another officer on the air if they were going to `TH’ I would not be asked. The odd time one would invite me, but I would hasten to say it was one who was conscious of the fact that others were making it very obvious by not inviting me and so gave me the invitation. I soon made it known that I did not wish to go for coffee meetings to give me a feeling of comfort that it was my own choice not to attend.

Ever since the filling of my applications before the Ontario Human Rights Commission I have been under a slew of investigations under the Police Services Act (PSA). I firmly believe that the OPP flaunts their authority under the PSA and uses it non-sparingly to bring anyone that they believe has committed a violation under the Code of Conduct.

It is also a shame that Canada does not hold the Police Services Act under the same level of accountability as other statutes with respect to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Charter). By this I mean that I exercised my constitutional rights as a Canadian citizen under section 2(b) of the Charter on the 10th of November 2008 at the Superior Court of Justice in Peterborough and was convicted for Discreditable Conduct under the Police Services Act.

Background:

On March the 25th, 2008, I was travelling to a paid duty in Toronto with another officer who was riding shotgun and returned later on that day. On March 31st, 2008, the officer that accompanied me provided a statement to a uniformed Sergeant from the OPP’s pristine Highway Safety Division (that I was a member of albeit a different area) that I was literally flying all the way from the detachment to the paid duty location. After taking her statement the Sergeant travelled to Orillia General Headquarters (GHQ) and met with the Unit Commander of the Highway Safety Division and on April 8th, 2008, charged me with Stunt Driving and Careless Driving. Sometime later on that day the Sergeant took the cruiser that I used on March 25th, 2008, and calibrated the speedometer. The ensuing news article in the Peterborough Examiner can still be viewed online by entering my name (Lloyd Tapp) on any search bar on the internet. I maintained my innocence and voiced my objection to the false charges in my statement. I was facing possible penal sanctions being that it was two very serious charges under Provincial Law – the Highway Traffic Act. The Charter is worded as such and provides protection for any citizen of Canada when faced with the possibility of any penal sanctions as a result of any Provincial or Federal judicial process. On the day of trial (November 10, 2008), the presiding Justice of the Peace dismissed the charges and had some carefully chosen remarks to say about the case for prosecution. Extremely relieved, but equally upset at having had my whole family dragged through the stress of the false charges and the toll it took on my family I, upon exiting the courtroom gave a private and poignant interview with a Peterborough Examiner reporter.’ I told the reporter that: “The evidence you have heard in court today is a clear indication of the shoddy investigations of the Ontario Provincial Police. The public should take heed to these type of investigations that lack integrity and professionalism. One might wonder why charges were laid when there was such a strong Prima-Facie case to not even substantiate a charge. However, I am minority officer with four complaints before the Human Rights Commission.” At the time of interview I had four complaints and my fifth one was filed in early 2009. The newspaper decided to print what I stated with a captivating headline, ‘Officer cites racism behind charges.' Though the headline was most apropos for the circumstances I was experiencing within the OPP, it was viewed as discreditable conduct under the PSA. I was charged and convicted in the OPP’s internal judicial process which is referred to by many officers as a "Kangaroo Court". I was convicted even though the reporter admitted that his notes were choppy, he had paraphrased them and did not have a tape recorder and did not refer to his notes for the article. The entire disclosure including my statement to my counsel is available for anyone upon request.

The OPP abused their authority under the PSA and though I had every right as a Canadian citizen to exercise my right under section 2(b) of the Charter I was barred from doing so under the PSA. The OPP Association would not appeal my case and if I had the funds I could have appealed it all the way to the Provincial Courthouse level where justice would have been served. The average officer does not have the funds for such an appeal. The OPP knows that the Association will not readily appeal each and every case in what is known as a "Kangaroo Court" and to date there are only a handful of cases that are appealed under the Association’s funding. Hence, the OPP continues to hammer away at officers and abuse their authority under the PSA. I should not have been convicted for what I said to the media on the 10th of November, 2008.

Continuing …

Meanwhile, the hearing into my five applications before the Ontario Human Rights Commission commenced before the Commission (Tribunal) on the 30th of November, 2009. It continued on the 10th of March, 2010. On this day there was argument of law that was raised and I was asked to step outside of the courtroom. I should point out that the Tribunal headquarters in 2010 was situated on the 22nd floor of at 180 Dundas St. West, Toronto. There was also an exclusion of witness in effect during the entire duration of the hearing. Upon exiting the courtroom I remained at a distance from the personal respondents, but yet was approached by a respondent who was in uniform. It was none other than the Sergeant that had charged me with Stunt Driving and Careless Driving. In a pseudo empathetic voice he asked me how I was doing. I stretched out my right hand in his direction from where I was standing and with my palm extended upward told him not to talk to me and that as far as I was concerned he was a racist and to go and join to rest of his goons over there and indicated to the rest of my personal respondents who were gathered together. That ended any possible further conversation. I thought to myself what nerve he had to think that I would want to talk to him over what he had done to me and my family. Later on during a recess another respondent approached me when I was standing with my wife and asked me how I was doing. I responded by asking him when he was going to leave that racist detachment.

On the third day of the hearing, March 26th, 2010, the OPP and my Counsel negotiated a settlement. I viewed that as a victory for were there no merits to my applications then there would have been no need to negotiate a settlement. However, on March 31st, 2010, I was called into the Unit Commander's office in Lindsay and given formal documentation that I was under the investigation by the Professional Standards Bureau for Insubordination and Discreditable Conduct with respect to certain comments I made to a uniform member while on day two of my hearing at the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal situated at 180 Dundas St. West in Toronto. I was shocked that I was being charged for comments that would not have been made had I not have been asked a question. Furthermore, the comments I made are indicative of tension that had been building up within a person for years and finally being vented in the course of a hearing. It is only natural that certain comments like that might be expected. Being charged for comments said on day two of the hearing was another confirmation of the OPP’s flagrant violation of their authority under the Police Service Act. It was not long afterwards that I was charged with those two offences.

In light of everything I was going through and I became very angry and was seen by many to be an unapproachable individual. I became very self-conscious and extremely defensive. My health had already deteriorated and I constantly found myself booking time off for work related stress. I became very depressed and I am currently on medications for various medical conditions.

At the end of the last day of my day shift in January 2011, before starting my days off my platoon Sergeant advised me that the Unit Commander wanted to see me after I returned from block training. I was scheduled for block training on my first day back from my days off. I asked him what for and he told me that he did not know why. All through my days off and through block training I wondered what he wanted to see me about, what had I done now and what was so important that he felt it necessary to warn me so many days in advance. The stress it left on me was unbearable. But this feeling I speak of is just what one experiences after years of targeting and discrimination. I decided to record the meeting and viewed it as if the Unit Command had nothing to hide then he should not object to the meeting being recorded. Personally, I could not care if a person decided to record my conversation with them for I always believed in speaking the truth and furthermore I believed that if you have nothing to hide then you should not have anything to worry about. Prior to walking into his office on the 20th of January, 2011, I went to the washroom and removed the batteries to the digital recorder I had. I knew my blood pressure was high in anticipation of the meeting and that my blood sugars were equally high as well. I had already requested that an OPP Association representative be present and so when he arrived I went in to the Unit Commander’s office along with my Sergeant. The OPP Association representative sat down near one side of the door and the Sergeant on the other side of the door. I felt nervous of the setting as I sat down in a chair that was already in place in front of the Inspector’s desk. My heart was beating fast and nothing had actually taken place yet. I knew it had to be the formality of the meeting. The Inspector started to tell me that he had something when I placed the digital tape recorder on his table before me. He immediately stopped and I stated that this meeting was going to be recorded. The Inspector shot up from his chair and with his hands pressed down on his side of the desk he glared at me and ordered me to turn it off. I tried to tell him that if he had nothing to hide then he should not have to worry about it. He got red in the face with anger. He kept telling me to turn that thing off. After repeating himself a few times I picked up the digital recorder and flipped open the battery compartment and holding it up with my hand extended forward in his direction I told him that there were no batteries in it. He kept repeating to turn that thing off. It seemed like he was fixated on it. The amount of anger he displayed towards me was alarming. I had to turn to my left and show the other two officers that there were no batteries inside it. The inspector chastised me in front of the two officers at which time I stood up extremely upset telling him that I was not taking this type of treatment and that he could do whatever he wanted. I stormed out of his office and my Sergeant slammed the door shut behind me. He slammed it so hard that the file holder screwed on the outside of the door came loose from one of the screws and was hanging by the other. The OPP Association representative came out later and told me that he had never seen me that upset. After letting me vent for a few minutes he told me that I left my tape recorder inside. I went back in and grabbed my recorder off his desk. The Sergeant did not say a thing, but was looking at the Inspector and seemed to have a smile on his face or maybe it was a smirk. It stood out in my mind nonetheless. The Inspector again started to tell me that he wanted to serve me with papers regarding a conviction where I had to work twenty four hours as a penalty and was saying this with a bit of a smile. I told him that he could do whatever he wanted and that I would see him in court. As I walked out of the doorway I heard the two of them laughing. I was utterly humiliated by the experience and the laughter behind me.

My OPP Association representative drove me home and suggested that I take some time off work and even suggested take three months stress leave. The next day I saw my doctor and he put me off work for three months. I handed in my medical note via the Association representative.

On the morning of the 21st of January 2011, I received a telephone call from the Staff Sergeant of the detachment and he sounded empathetic. He proceeded to tell me that he and the Inspector had a meeting with Regional Command and that it had been decided that when I return to work that I would be working inside on light duties. I told him that I had an appointment with my doctor and would be seeking some time off. I told him that I was extremely humiliated by the treatment of the Inspector and over the fact of how much anger he displayed towards me even when he could see that there were no batteries in the recorder. He was literally fixated on me in his anger.

It was in the afternoon that I saw my doctor and he placed me on three months stress leave. I handed in that note via my OPP Association representative the next day. About a week later I received a letter from the detachment. It was hand delivered by a Sergeant. It stated that the OPP was in receipt of my doctor’s recommendation for three months stress leave and that in order for them to accommodate me with any issues I might have had there was a need to send me to an Independent Medical Exam (IME). The letter identified three companies and that I was to choose one of them. Based on the information contained in the letter it was plainly clear that my employer wanted to either corroborate or refute my doctor’s recommendation. I selected Work Able Centres Inc. Upon leaving the Sergeant had requested that I had to hand over my Use of Force options and so I handed them to him.

My scheduled appointment with the OPP’s doctor took place on March the 8th, 2011. I was surprised that he was a psychiatrist and based on the questions he asked me I learned that the OPP had released to him details of my convictions under the Police Service Act as well as comments from staff members and allegations under the Highway Traffic Act that had already been dismissed. I was shocked at the amount of information that had apparently been released to him aside from the fact that I was never advised that this meeting was with a psychiatrist. I knew that the actions of the OPP violated my rights under the Human Rights Code and the rights to privacy with respect to one's record of convictions under the Police Services Act, which is a Provincial Statute. At the start of the meeting I asked the psychiatrist if he had the time to meet with me considering that it was 3:15 in the afternoon. He told me that he did and if need be he would schedule another day. At 4:30 he stated he had enough and that he had to go. I asked him how could he possibly have enough in just seventy minutes and again he said he did so I left. I had already requested that a copy be sent to my family doctor and so I knew that I would be able to get one through him.

In early April I saw my doctor again at which time he gave me a letter indicating that I could return to front line duties on the 21st of April. I handed in a copy of that note via email to the staff Sergeant. He responded with an email that I was not to return to work until further directed and that I would be getting a letter delivered to me. In a response I told him that while my doctor placed me on a three months leave of absence it was understandable that I would be on seventy-five percent salary and would have to top it to one hundred percent from my accumulated credits. Now that my doctor has authorized me to return to work and my employer is ordering me (a request from a superior officer is an order) to remain at home I asked him if the OPP was going to pay my twenty-five percent. He told me that I would have to take that up with the association.

I addressed my concern of the twenty-five percent pay with the association and was advised that it was the employer’s prerogative to have an officer continue to remain at home if they had reasons. The association also advised that they would look into it. On the 21st of April, 2011, I received a letter from the detachment. It stated that the OPP was in receipt of a copy of the Independent Medical Exam that was conducted and that the IME identified some serious concerns. It further stated that in order for the employer to make an informed decision as to my ability to safely return to work there was a need to send me to a second IME and that I would be contacted regarding the arrangements. Furthermore, it urged me that my accumulated credits that were supplementing my income would be running out and that I should consider applying for Long Term Income Protection (LTIP). This news was devastating. The fact that I would have to apply for Long Term Income Protection was inconceivable to my mind. Communications via email with my association amounted to no avail for I found out that the association was of the opinion that it was a right of management to order an employee to remain at home and pay his own twenty-five percent. It seemed like the walls were closing in on me and my family and I was powerless to do anything about it.

On May the 31st, 2011, I received a letter from the OPP via Purolator. It stated that based on the information contained in the IME I was no longer fit to be a police officer and that my condition was considered to be permanent. It further stipulated that my pay would run out on June the 22nd and that I should apply for Long Term Income Protection through the insurance carrier. I could not return to work until the Human Resources received medical clearance. My doctor’s note didn’t cut it. I had to have a psychiatric clearance. I had never seen a psychiatrist in my life and all of a sudden I was being forced to see one. Again the association didn’t see anything wrong with the manner in how the OPP went about in terminating my employment over medical reasons. In fact that association stated in a response that I was not fired but would not elaborate any further but encouraged me to apply for Long Term Income Protection and that they would represent me. What could I do? I had to do apply just to have an income. It was mind boggling in a way. Where was the second IME that the OPP were making arrangements for me to attend? What miraculous information had the OPP come into possession of all of a sudden to attach so much credence to the IME? After all, aware of the contents of the IME they stated in their April 21st, 2011, letter that the report raised some concerns and so they needed to send me to a second one in order for them to make an informed decision as to my ability to return to work. Now I am being told that the IME was final and that their informed decision was that I cannot return back to work. Furthermore, I was being forced to go on disability by my employer. Usually an employee tries to scam their way onto disability. In my case I was being told that I am sick in the head and that I should go on disability. Wow!

While all of this was going on and stressing out my family the OPP had the gall to keep me advised of my PSB matters in their Kangaroo Court via email to the family computer in my home. It was the Inspector of the OPP prosecutions department of PSB advising me that my PSB matters of Discreditable Conduct and Insubordination were still continuing and when I was to attend next because I was self-represented. He obviously couldn’t get me at work so he was letting me know at home. Granted that I elected to be self-represented and so had been communicating with one of the Superintendents in charge Kangaroo Court as well as him as to who all I wanted subpoenaed, surely the inspector was aware that I was being marked off sick at the detachment. He knew that very well for he would not have communicated to me on my home computer. I guess he felt it incumbent upon himself to let me know the status of their case against me. I really couldn’t care less. I actually felt like attending there in my pyjamas after all I was sick in the head. I ended up telling him via the association to stop harassing me any further at home. The association got back to me that the message had been passed on and that the inspector said that my matters would be shelved until I returned to work. However, that didn’t turn out to be true or at least did not seem to be true.

In the meantime I applied for LTIP and received a letter from them. The letter stated that in order to process my application they wished me to attend an IME with one of their psychiatrists and named the doctor. At least my insurance company had the professional fortitude to name the doctor and advise me of the doctor’s specialty. Not so my employer. My employer on the other hand stroked me on the back and then whacked me on the head. Furthermore, I have had to see a psychiatrist through my family doctor just to refute the report of the psychiatrist for the OPP.

If all of the aforementioned wasn’t stressful enough I received a telephone call from the detachment in the later part of December, 2011. It was a Sergeant and he asked how I was doing. We hardly talk and so I am sure he didn’t call just to ask how I am doing. Knowing that he couldn’t care less I asked him what he wanted. He proceeded to tell me that he had some documents to serve on me from PSB. I blew my lid at him. I told him to tell the Inspector of PSB to take whatever documents he had to serve on me and shove them. What gall? I ended the brief call by telling him that the OPP were the ones marking me off as sick and now they want me to go on duty to accommodate them in serving me with documents from their prosecutions department. Hogwash! I told him to tell the inspector to first cut me a cheque for six hours call back and then and only then will I consider accepting his documents and until then he can bite me.

One has to wonder at what is so pressing that PSB wants to have me served with documents at my residence while they are saying that I am sick. The only rational explanation I can come up with is the fact that I am representing Michael Jack in his application before the Tribunal against the OPP. I have also been contacting other officers advising them that I would like to have a statement from them regarding their involvement with Mr. Jack or face getting a subpoena. Furthermore, I am also assisting a Sergeant in the OPP who also has an application before the Tribunal against the OPP. Yet further a female Sergeant contacted me for some information. She too had an application before the Tribunal. I have also been contacted by a female employee of the OPP that moved from one detachment to another. She found that she could not take the targeting and discrimination any longer and resigned. There is no doubt in my mind that PSB wanted to serve me with papers before the six month statute of limitations run out.

In reflection, I wish Mr. Jack had sought me earlier for assistance for I could have used him in my case before the Tribunal. There was another visible minority who filed an application before the Human Right Tribunal of Ontario in 2006, Mr. Harry Allan Chase. He and I were on the same shift at Peterborough Detachment in 2006. Mr. Chase was snow balled by the Association that communicated to the Tribunal that they were handling his case and hence the Tribunal closed his application based on that information. Shortly after doing so the Association told Mr. Chase there were no merits to his complaint and to accept whatever settlement the OPP offered.

In conclusion, I a visible minority with no problems in my almost fifteen years with Toronto Police Service was made to look like an undesirable and then told I was no longer fit to be a police officer.
I firmly believe the OPP thrives in anonymity and that is why they always wish to settle before getting to a hearing or before one is finished. In doing so they cannot be held accountable. To that end I aim to hold them accountable.

Hence, I am now an advocate for officers who feel they have targeted and discriminated by the OPP. The average person cannot afford the legal fees a lawyer would charge in such cases. That is why I like helping anyone who has been victimized in such a manner by the OPP.

Lloyd Tapp

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Re: East Indian former Toronto police officer targeted

Postby William5847 » Sun Mar 02, 2014 11:49 pm

MR Tapp, So much to comment on but so little desire. I spent 30+ years at various Detachments with the OPP. Never had the opportunity to work at Peterborough or Lindsay so nothing to add about them. I cannot say I felt I was treated in a manner appropriate to my disability all the time but rather most of the time I was treated well. I worked hard at any job I was assigned and did my bitching at home to my wife. Then a funny thing happened, the guys started coming to me for advice ie personal, job etc. I felt like a part of the team again. I have taken the time to read your entry on this site and others and can understand that you did not get along with several people for several personal reasons, which you have chosen to make public. I can only say I'm sorry you left the TPS for the OPP and had issues. If I had known you back then (When you were at Cobourg OPP) I would have suggested returning to TPS. Maybe your family life would have been better and you would not be in the position you are in now. Bill O'Sullivan

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Re: East Indian former Toronto police officer targeted

Postby bass nabeer » Tue Mar 04, 2014 10:13 am

I am with Williams5847 but also completely appreciate your beef Lloyd. My experience is 12 years as a YRP and 17 years with O.dot. I know people who knew you in the City and say you were a top drawer copper.

The incidence of actions of which you refer in O.dot is minimal, but at the same time some detachments were notorious for their old boys clubs and personality cliques. I have only heard of Peterborough problems from reading the various posts in this forum, and as I have never worked there I cannot do anything but take the allegations on face value. One complaint is usually a personal beef. Five complaints, echoing some of the same treatment suggests that it is something to be considered and investigated. The fact that the suits in GHQ are not investigating this (because if they were these guys would not be posting and complaining) tells me that there is possibly a lot more to this than we know.

William has a point. Sometimes we have to take the lemons and appreciate that we are not in the right place, and make decisions in the best interest of our families. I do not condone any of the actions which caused you grief, but I myself have had to make a few decisions along the way to protect my family from issues on the job.

Have you returned to the job in TPS Lloyd?

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Re: East Indian former Toronto police officer targeted

Postby Lloyd » Tue Mar 04, 2014 4:17 pm

Thank you Mr. Sullivan. For the many OPP officers out there your'll need to know something that the OPPA, I believe may not want their membership to know. Never agree to go to an IME requested by the OPP. The OPPA will never tell you this but they will state that the employer has a right to ask for it. There is absolutely no authority in law for the OPP to make you go to one. I learned this from experience and I learned it the hard way. When one goes to an OPP IME, one does not have any idea what information is disclosed to the service provider and neither is one able to get a copy of the disclosed information. One is only able to get a copy of the final report. But by then it may be too late. Many officers have shared comments with me in the past that they believe the OPPA is in bed with management and though I took those comments with a grain of salt I soon came to see the reality of those comments.

My advice is: When your doctor places you on a leave of absence for a period of time and you hand in the note at your detachment you will get correspondence from the detachment indicating that the OPP cares about its employees and their well being. The correspondence will go on to state that in an attempt to help the employer ascertain how to properly meet your needs, if any, the employer is requesting that you attend an Independent Medical Exam.

It is a smoke screen and it is my personal opinion based on experience. Do not agree to attend an IME. This way when the note that you handed in expires you can return to work and they will have authority to refuse to allow you to return.

I now have the time to prepare legal actions and assist officers against their employer. I do this free of charge since an officer cannot afford the exorbitant fees lawyers charge and legal aid do not cover civil actions. I tend to cater to current and ex-officers and anyone can contact me via this website. Watch out for those that 'Stroke you on the back and then whack you on the head.'

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