Calgary police officers caught on photo radar are being let off the hook by their bosses, and the courts, even when they don’t have a reasonable reason to speed.
A CTV News investigation has found it’s rare for tickets to be written for CPS members. Between July, 2012 and July, 2014 just 24 tickets were written of 1,661 incidents captured on camera. And, just 12 of them were either quashed or withdrawn in court. Six were paid, but six others were never entered into the court database and have no paper trail at all.
Most of those tickets were written to high-ranking officers who rarely respond to emergency calls. One quashed ticket was written to the officer responsible for the CPS comfort dog.
Court documents show that many of those officers appeared in court armed with a form signed by CPS management asking the ticket to be withdrawn, citing police duty, but providing no other details.
In every case, the provincial prosecutors withdrew the charges. During the two-year-period investigated by CTV, three out of four of those prosecutors were former Calgary police officers.
“I am confident that the integrity of these individuals knowing the job that they have in the position that they were placed in would be paramount,” said Calgary Police spokesperson Kevin Brookwell.
Alberta Justice and Solicitor General, who oversees the Crown Prosecutors’ office is also defending the prosecutors. A spokesperson declined to comment, but said in a statement that policing experience is valuable.
“This gives them expertise in the area they are working in and does not mean they do not properly and ethically carry out their duties,” Michelle Davio wrote in an email to CTV.
All three prosecutors, Bob Tayfel, Tom Ball and Peter Johnston declined our request for interviews.
Former lawyer and University of Calgary law professor Chris Levy says there is an appearance of a conflict of interest.
“It’s not a level playing field,” said Levy. “Justice must not only be done, it must manifestly be seen to be done, and I think many members of the public may feel that justice is not seen to be done.”
CTV News also found even where there is no justification for speeding or running a red light, police management doesn’t follow through with handing out a ticket.
In one case obtained through freedom of information requests, an unmarked police vehicle speeds through a 30 kilometre per hour school zone twice within an hour, in the same spot. The officer was not en route to an emergency. The photos were filtered into an internal police system where she told her supervisor that she “did not see a marked 30km hour school zone,” and that “there was no emergency or justification for speeding.”
Her bosses determined the infraction was “not justified” and “unreasonable,” but no ticket was written for either infraction.
In another case, a marked police SUV speeds through a school zone. The driver concedes: “I have no reasoning for this infraction,” and “most likely missed the sign altogether.”
His discipline was a conversation with his supervisor rather than a ticket. Inspector Paul Cook, who is now the interim Calgary Police Chief, signed off on that decision.
Brookwell defended those decisions saying civilians have the option to “go through the courts, and explain the same way.”
But people at court fighting their own tickets say pleading ignorance won’t work.
“That doesn’t work for me, and it shouldn’t work for someone regardless of their position,” said lawyer Rame Katrib, who was at court fighting ticket on behalf of a client.
Many cases that end up in the CPS’ internal system are ruled to be justified, and reasonable, but some of those appear questionable.
One officer claims he ran a red light by more than one second because he was distracted by a man on the side of the road carrying an open bottle of vodka. That bottle turned out to be water.
CTV News looked closely at more than 60 cases, and found that more than a quarter of them had either an incomplete paper trail or none at all. Police acknowledge that’s a problem.
“A gap has been identified, a need has been identified,” said Brookwell. “No, it’s not perfect, it does need work, and we’re going to strive to do that."
The Calgary Police Commission has asked to CPS to review its policies and report back by May 26. At that point, it’s promising to make policy changes.
This is the second piece of a three-part series. Part 3 will examine the consequences in the CPS’ internal system, and what it takes to earn an “internal demerit point."
