A senior Toronto police officer has been found guilty of two counts of misconduct, after a tribunal heard she had failed to ensure a thorough investigation and created a conflict of interest when she attended a single-vehicle collision scene involving her nephew in 2022.
A decision from a Toronto police tribunal says Insp. Joyce Schertzer was charged with three counts of misconduct after she received a call from her daughter, a police constable, informing Schertzer that her nephew had been involved in a car accident on May 1, 2022.
The tribunal heard that Schertzer had dispatched an officer from her own division to go to the scene, located in another division, before going to the scene herself, where she was the first to speak to her nephew.
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Witnesses at the hearing testified that her nephew’s pickup truck had hit a pole and he was advised that he could leave the scene before officers could conduct a thorough investigation, including determining if alcohol was a factor in the crash.
Schertzer pleaded not guilty to three counts of professional misconduct under the Ontario Police Services Act.
Schertzer was found guilty of one count of discreditable conduct and one count of neglect of duty. She was found not guilty of a second count of neglect of duty.
The tribunal’s hearing officer, retired superintendent Lisa Taylor, wrote in the decision that the case “involved a clear conflict of interest” and Schertzer did not avoid the situation.
“I find Inspector Schertzer’s actions and inactions are evidence that she allowed family … relationships to influence her official conduct, judgment or duty, contrary to policy,” Taylor wrote.
Taylor also found no evidence that Schertzer informed officers on the scene from outside her division that she was there only as an aunt to advocate for her nephew’s wellness.
“I find a fully informed citizen would be shocked when considering the actions and inactions of Inspector Schertzer … and would conclude her conduct would be likely to bring discredit upon the reputation of the Toronto Police Service,” Taylor wrote.
Schertzer had testified that she was at the scene only as an aunt to advocate for her nephew’s wellness, not to investigate the crash.
A hearing for submissions on her penalty will be held at a later date.
© 2024 The Canadian Press