High-ranking Toronto cop found guilty of misconduct
Insp. Joyce Schertzer found to have contravened force's conflict of interest policy after nephew's crash
A senior Toronto police officer has been found guilty of two police act charges after she attended a west-end crash site that her nephew was allowed to leave in 2022, circumventing police procedure for the benefit of her family.
Insp. Joyce Schertzer sat emotionless and stared straight ahead as retired OPP supt. Lisa Taylor read her decision at a police tribunal hearing Wednesday morning.
"I find Insp. Schertzer's actions and inactions are evidence that she allowed family relationships to influence her official conduct, duty or judgment, contrary to policy," Taylor said.
"I find a reasonable citizen would be shocked to learn the minimal investigative efforts made during the attendance of Insp. Schertzer."
Schertzer, who has been an officer for over three decades, was found guilty of one count of discreditable conduct and another count of neglect of duty. She was found not guilty on a second count of neglect of duty related to the collection of evidence at the scene.
Schertzer denied a request for comment from CBC News after the hearing's conclusion.
The charges stem from an incident that happened shortly before noon on May 1, 2022, just outside The Boulevard Club at 1491 Lake Shore Boulevard W., in the city's west end.
Schertzer was working at 11 Division that day when she got a call from her daughter — who is a constable with Toronto police — telling her Schertzer's nephew had been in a collision, the tribunal previously heard.
Schertzer travelled to scene
Videos played during previous hearings show Schertzer's nephew, who was referred to as "Calvin," driving a white pickup truck and trying to turn left on Lake Shore Boulevard from the country club's parking lot. Cones were set up in the area as part of a road race happening that day, and a private security employee was at the edge of the club's driveway, directing traffic.
In the video, the truck can be seen making a left onto the busy roadway, before narrowly missing a car that was heading east. The truck then proceeds into the grassy median to the north, before slamming into a pole.
After she was told about the crash, Schertzer arranged for an officer from her division to be dispatched to 14 Division, where the incident happened. Generally, the tribunal previously heard, officers respond to calls within their respective divisions — though a map displayed by the defence during the proceedings showed 11 Division and 14 Division sit next to each other, with the barrier between them lying close to where the crash happened.
Schertzer previously testified she was unaware the club was outside that boundary. She also attended the scene.
The tribunal previously heard Calvin was cleared to leave the area around 10 minutes after talking to Const. Braden Doherty, an officer from 11 Division, which is Schertzer's unit.
Body camera footage captured some of Doherty's investigation, including when he deemed no "criminality" took place and allowed Calvin to leave. Doherty previously testified that he asked for Schertzer's permission to turn off his body-worn camera while the two were talking at the scene.
Taylor said Wednesday she "cannot fathom" why Schertzer would have allowed the camera to be turned off in that situation.
"It makes no sense as to why Insp. Schertzer would agree to this," she wrote in her decision.
Penalty hearing scheduled for October
A couple of hours later, Const. Michael Clarke, a traffic services investigator, attended the scene due to damage to city property. Calvin returned to the site of the crash after Schertzer was contacted by traffic services.
He was later ticketed for careless driving, but that ticket was eventually dropped in 2023.
Clarke previously testified he could smell alcohol on Calvin's breath. The tribunal heard Calvin had been drinking the night before the crash at the Boulevard Club, where he had left his car overnight.
Taylor said that having reviewed the evidence and video related to the investigation, she was satisfied that Calvin was not impaired by alcohol or drugs — but also said she had questions about whether or not his blood alcohol level was zero, as was a condition of his G2 licence at the time.
Defence lawyer Joanne Mulcahy previously argued Schertzer did her best to avoid a conflict of interest in the situation, as well as the appearance of one.
"Insp. Scherzter was ensuring that she was there as an aunt. She didn't interfere, she didn't influence," she said.
In her decision, Taylor wrote that regardless of whether or not Schertzer believed her presence at the scene was only as an aunt, her duty as a senior officer had to take precedence.
A penalty hearing for the case is scheduled for Oct. 28.
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With files from Vanessa Balintec