Crooked Cops?

How crooked do you think Toronto cops are?

  • 95% - Almost all are crooks and liars

    Votes: 12 7.6%
  • 75%% - We really need a Serpico here in Toronto

    Votes: 20 12.7%
  • 50%% - Things are bad but not that bad

    Votes: 35 22.3%
  • 25%% - Things need to change but it's not that bad

    Votes: 29 18.5%
  • 5% - Only a few bad apples ruining the barrel

    Votes: 60 38.2%
  • 0% - None they are the most honest cops in the world

    Votes: 1 0.6%

  • Total voters
    157
landscaper said:
The constable was arreasted by the OPP for driving his cruiser eratically. He failed a field sobriety test and then the breathalyzer. All in carefully controlled circumstanses.

At trial several of his friends took the stand a swore under oath that he did not drink enough to register what the breathalyzer said.

The judge agreed with them state the breathalyzer must be inacurate, the crown prosecutor's last statement was " We are not working with Radio Shack toys here".
The points here are: 1) the OPP arrested the Constable for DUI 2) I'm not sure about Toronto but most places the Constable would have been suspended with or without pay depending on their contract 3) The Judge apparently had his/her head someplace it shouldn't have been, presuming the Crown brought in the expert witnesses to testify regarding the accuracy of that particular Breathalyzer.
 
Most cops, especially the OPP, are omnipotent god-like wannabes with no self-respect and very little honour. They spout all the time how WE need to thank them for doing a great job especially that Fantino jackass. Well not me. Just because it's dangerous means nothing to me. I think soldiers are great and courageous but cops not in a million years. All, THAT'S ALL, the cops I know are lazy assholes who think the public owes them something. Every interaction I have had with cops has been negative.
 
s-husky said:
That defence is not new, as it has been used by the Gen. Pop. often, but is running out of favour by the courts. I wouldn't try it. It's possible the instrument hadn't been recently calibrated and therefore could be challenged. Hope that cop doesn't get pulled over again for any reason.

It isn't running out of favour -- it's gone. The Criminal Code was amended earlier this year to prevent it, and the Supreme Court recently ruled it was garbage.
 
nottyboi said:
Dude please don't continue to spread this propaganda. Being a cop in Canada is one of the safest jobs one can have. Working construction or in a factory is FAR more dangerous. The cops and police unions keep shoveling this BS so they can demand rediculous wages for a job that really is not that skilled or dangeous. It's a shitty job for sure, and we 100% need police, but lets not deify them.

I would say that for-the-most-part, cops are still underpaid for what they do and what they have to put up with. I would agree that the fact that many of these folks only needed a high school education to get their jobs, but things have changed recently and more and more officers carry specialized university degrees. Not to mention that the same can be said for other people who may not even have a high school diploma and are working in general labour positions, making in excess of $90 - 100K. The truth is that these people do put their lives on the line on a daily basis...in other ways then you may generally think of. They are out there on the streets in the worst weather trying to help monkeys out who decided to drive like idiots and at risk of getting into serious accidents, they are faced with mentally unstable people who could react violently to the most common situation, they are the ones that venture into dangerous waters at times to try to help someone in trouble...all things that joe citizen would rarely do. In addition to this, many of these people sacrifice their family and social lives because of the crazy schedules that they try to work. Combine all of these things with the grotesque things that they have to see everyday (mangled bodies, abused or dead children, horrifying violence) and the number one killer of comes becomes suicide. It's a very real danger for these people and often they are not given the kind of credit that they deserve.

I'm not defending what this this thread is actually about...none of these things are an excuse for abusing their 'powers' or alienating people and the ones that do, past a moral or legal line, should not be in their position. But I would never dispute that they get paid a fair amount for the job that they do.
 
This goes to show why EVERY police car in the USA and Canada should have a video camera to record the actions of police officers. If they have nothing to hide, why are some dept. against having the camera's?

Edit...forget about Mexico, they are hopeless, lol
 
S.C. Joe said:
This goes to show why EVERY police car in the USA and Canada should have a video camera to record the actions of police officers. If they have nothing to hide, why are some dept. against having the camera's?
Every Crown Attorney/Prosecutor I'm acquainted with would agree.
 
I work in a bank, and I deal with a lot of cops.

All the ones I deal with seem to be half decent, and I doubt that they're corrupt (I have access to their financial records! :) ). There are always going to be a few bad apples that spoil the bunch. In the past there were probably more, but now there's probably less? Why? One word: youtube.

In this era of video cameras (rodney king, anyone?) and cell phone cameras etc. catching police in the act of f*cking up is pretty likely. The video from the times square thing shows that. The globe and mail reported that he lost his badge over that, as well he should.

But in Toronto, corrupt? I don't think the number is very high, and this poll is incredibly biased against them. Has no one heard of the scientific method? Neutal analysis with repeatable results?
 
Wow I am suprised at the comments made

Although they have unique authority I beleive that cops.....like any other group have good ones, bad ones, and ok ones. Unfortunately cops are part of a special group the many people just love to hate so the bad ones are going to stand out way more than the good ones.

I've had many many interactions with cops and I can honestly say that of all the ones I have interacted with, I can only think of one...maybe two cops that needed an attitude adjustment. Otherwise they have all been pretty good guys/gals. Treat them like regular human beings guys; its not hard. I think the reason why they seem so unapproachable is because they may feel alienated from everyone else...

its hard to be cheery and approachable when you feel like everyone hates and resents you.
 
Aardvark154 said:
Absolutely, perhaps in some big city forces, but not elsewhere. Yes one of the boys/girls may get out of a speeding ticket but DUI or an Indictable Crime - NOPE

Cop beats impaired charge
Entitled to benefit of the doubt: judge
Posted By BY TRACY MCLAUGHLIN
Posted 27 days ago


A Toronto Metro cop who was busted for impaired driving after he was caught driving along Highway 400 at 145 kilometres an hour and straddling lanes beat the charges in court.

While his toxicology test showed a reading of 180 -- almost twice the legal limit -- Provincial Court Justice Michael Harpur found Det. Daniel Ross, of 31 Division not guilty of impaired driving and not guilty of driving over 80.

Court heard Ross, an Innisfil resident, was pulled over after a brief pursuit on Highway 400, just south of Barrie, at around 4 a. m. on July 25, 2007. But, instead of slowing down, Ross eeding along, while moving in and out of lanes without signaling.

The arresting officer testified Ross smelled of alcohol, had a "dead man's stare" and delayed speech. The officer also found an empty bottle of Corona on the floor in the front of the car, and a case of nine empty Coronas in the back seat -- with one bottle missing out of the case.

Court heard Ross offered up his police identification instead of his driver's licence, explaining he forgot his wallet at home.

Ross and two of his colleagues testified they each drank five beers earlier that night between midnight and 2:30 a. m. In court, Harpur found that five beers did not match the toxicology test and that he would have had to drink several more than five beers to have a reading of 180 -- which, he said, casts doubt on the reliability of the toxicology equipment.

"Your honour, we're not talking about a piece of crap from Radio Shack," argued Crown attorney Ray Williams, who insisted Ross had also drained some of the beer bottles that were now empty in his car.

"Mr. Ross is entitled to the benefit of the doubt," Harpur said.
 
iamme said:
What the hell are you smoking ??????

You say it's a safe job and then say it's a shitty job. :confused:

Well digging ditches is a safe job but not a very desirable one.

But Nottyboi is out of his mind...Notty, explain how being a cop is "easy"??? or not dangerous and not requiring skill?

MOST people could not do that job....you probably being one of them
 
iamme said:
Ditches can collapse in on you ... doesn't happen very often, but it can ocurr.

OK well cleaning toilets is a safe job and quite a shitty one at that (pun intended) :P
 
Being a cop is a unsafe job...in the USA not in Canada!...Besides, more cops still get killed even in the USA by car wrecks not gun shootings...

The judges do go "soft" on cops....give them breaks all the time....I had a cop lie to me as well but then they lied more in court but cut me a break...after a $200 fine...What was I blew right under the drink-drunk driving limit....today it would have been an arrest...so the cop lied and wrote me up for speeding...I was ready to lose my license cause of too many speed tickets, lol...so I go to court...they say they hold the ticket for 6 months till some points come off--the USA--so I plead guilty...6 months later no ticket shows up, it never did come up....

But they did me some good....I stop drinking and still speed and have a clean record now...:D
 
oh it wasn't my mouth...it was my poor driving...due in part to being a newer driver and I believe my drinking was slowing down my reflex's, even 12 hours after my last drink. I can't recall how many close calls I had for speed now...but I tap the breaks just in time or slow down before a blind spot....before I slip up and went flying past them.
 
dj1470 said:
Most cops, especially the OPP, are omnipotent god-like wannabes with no self-respect and very little honour...
Hey, I've got a relative with the OPP. Wait, your description fits him pretty well. Carry on.
 
syn said:
Cop beats impaired charge
Entitled to benefit of the doubt: judge


A Toronto Metro cop who was busted for impaired driving after he was caught driving along Highway 400 at 145 kilometres an hour and straddling lanes beat the charges in court.
Yes, but a Judge found him not guilty. The police arrested him - he didn't get a "get out of jail free card" from the police because he was also a cop.
 
So big deal..not much difference...sure sometimes they used to just get a ride home but now the police arrest a cop but do every test wrong so the cop can beat the charge in court...the cop's insurance never goes up....how many people who drive like that get off in court?


This happens all the time, its rare for a cop to found guilty of a crime...lets wait and see what happens to those drug running cops that were arrested a few weeks ago. Hard to believe they be found not guilty but so was this case hard to believe.
 
nottyboi said:
Dude please don't continue to spread this propaganda. Being a cop in Canada is one of the safest jobs one can have. Working construction or in a factory is FAR more dangerous.

WTF???:confused:

How many construction or factory workers wake up each morning and ask themselves "Will I come home to my family at the end of my shift"?

If they do, then they should report their employer. There are employment standards! If your employer is not operating at safe levels you do not have to go to work.

Do you face the prospect of DEATH every day? Do your co-workers or employer habitually pack knives, guns, or worse? I don't think so!

Police & firefighters (and military) are the ONLY professions where each member must face (by choice) this question EVERY DAY!!!
 
S.C. Joe said:
So big deal..not much difference...sure sometimes they used to just get a ride home but now the police arrest a cop but do every test wrong so the cop can beat the charge in court...the cop's insurance never goes up....how many people who drive like that get off in court?


This happens all the time, its rare for a cop to found guilty of a crime...lets wait and see what happens to those drug running cops that were arrested a few weeks ago. Hard to believe they be found not guilty but so was this case hard to believe.
Doesn't happen often in my area - I believe because it doesn't happen often, however, there certainly have been both convictions and jail time for Constables convicted of DUI. I can't comment on other places and don't hang around the courtrooms in Toronto enough to know about there.

But with respect the comment about cops not being found guilty of a crime - when they are guilty is so much stuff.