Former Officer 728, Stéfanie Trudeau, took man on 'starlight tour,' says complainant

The Quebec Human Rights Commission is proposing the City of Montreal and two police officers involved in a 2012 incident pay $40,000 in damages to a man who says he was violently arrested and then taken on a "starlight tour."

Julian Menezes, who is of South Asian descent, said the policewoman involved was the former Montreal officer known by her badge number, 728 — Stéfanie Trudeau.

The Centre for Research Action on Race Relations (CRARR), which handled Menezes' complaint, said Menezes was arrested, driven to a place far away, in a district he wasn't familiar with, and "released in the North end of the island at 3:30 a.m. without the means to get home."

Trudeau's partner at the time of the incident, Constantinos Samaras, is cited for failing to identify himself and for "failure to intervene to stop Trudeau's actions," according to a news release from CRARR.

Menezes called it a "traumatic episode," adding that Trudeau used racial slurs against him and threatened him with violence.

Trudeau first gained notoriety after she was caught on video pepper-spraying protesters during the 2012 student protests. She was later found guilty of assault in a separate incident, for using excessive force during an arrest.

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She quit the force in September 2015.

Pushed to the ground, injured

In his complaint, Menezes said he was headed home from a wedding with his wife and another friend when the group saw two police officers speaking with a "visibly shaken" cyclist. 

Menezes believed the police were hassling the cyclist because he was wearing a red square, the symbol adopted in 2012 by striking students.

After attempting to intervene, Menezes said he was pushed to the ground and arrested in such a violent way that he sprained his ankle.

He said he was then issued a ticket and taken on a "starlight tour." After being picked up at the corner of Mont-Royal Avenue and De la Roche Street around 2:30 a.m., he was driven around "erratically," without a seatbelt, and then dropped off more than an hour later near Cremazie Metro station.

The Metro was closed at that hour. Menezes managed to get home by Bixi, despite his twisted ankle. 

Police ethics commission to investigate

The Human Rights Commission determined that Menezes had been subjected to racial profiling and discriminatory treatment because of his race.

In its judgment, handed down last Nov. 29, the commission recommended that the City of Montreal and the officers involved in the incident pay $25,000 in moral damages, with an additional $15,000 levied against the two officers in punitive damages.

Menezes said he was "surprised" and "heartened" by the ruling.

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In addition to filing a complaint with the Human Rights Commission, Menezes also filed one with the police ethics commission. That hearing is scheduled for April 4.

'Still a long way to go'

Menezes said that while he sees the human rights ruling as a small victory, there is more work to be done when it comes to sensitizing police to racial issues. 

"I think there's still a long way to go," he said, adding that until the police formally investigate racial profiling, "it's hard to make inroads into the community, since that trust has already been broken."

Fo Niemi, CRARR's executive director, told CBC he hopes the ruling will "send a strong message to the Montreal police."

"The department, especially under the new leadership of the present chief, has to be consistent and be very constant in terms of its efforts to ensure that police services are bias-free," said Niemi.

Neither the Montreal police service nor the Montreal Police Brotherhood, the union representing members of the police service, would comment on the ruling.