Toronto cop demoted for unlawful arrest of Black U of T student

A Toronto police officer has been given a temporary demotion for her role in the arrest of a Black university student who was stopped, Tasered and kneed in the neck in what turned out to be a case of "mistaken identity," according to police disciplinary documents.

Sgt. Rachel Saliba will be demoted for eight months from sergeant to police constable first class, after which she can be reinstated at her previous rank, Insp. Suzanne Redman wrote in a decision posted online Monday.

Saliba must seek treatment from the Toronto Police Service's wellness unit and training from the Toronto Police College on mentorship and leadership, according to the decision.

Saliba and another officer, Const. Seth Rietkoetter, pleaded guilty in February at separate police tribunal hearings to using unnecessary force and making an unlawful arrest when she and another officer arrested then-27-year-old Hasani O'Gilvie in August 2021. 

The third officer was disciplined at the unit level.

Following Monday's decision, Lawyer David Shellnut, who is representing the O'Gilvie family, said they are happy there has been "some level" of police accountability in the case but unhappy race wasn't addressed in the decision.

"We are unfortunately dismayed that the impact that race played in this interaction, anti-Blackness and policing wasn't addressed," Shellnut said.

"This was a young Black man who was accused of being someone he said he wasn't and very quickly ended up being thrown to the ground, Tasered and a knee on his neck."

O'Gilvie had similar description, but verbally ID'd himself

Police were looking for a suspect who was considered dangerous and had a similar description to O'Gilvie's appearance when Saliba stopped him. O'Gilvie was walking in a plaza in north Toronto at the time, according to agreed statements of facts in both Saliba's and Rietkoetter's cases.

O'Gilvie denied he was the suspect when asked and verbally identified himself, but Sgt. Saliba still threw him to the ground after he resisted an attempt to handcuff him, according to the statements.

Sgt. Rietkoetter, who arrived after the initial interaction, shot O'Gilvie with a stun gun five times, then "placed his left knee across the complainant's head and neck" and kept it there while he was handcuffed, the statement in his proceeding said.

The officers told O'Gilvie he was under arrest for theft and failing to comply and placed him in the back of a police car, but eventually let him go after discovering multiple identification cards that made it clear they had arrested the wrong person. 

"Despite knowing that officers had incorrectly identified the complainant as the suspect, Sergeant Saliba did not intervene when Constable Rietkoetter placed the complainant in the rear of the police car to confirm his identity," according to the agreed statement of facts in her case. 

"Sergeant Saliba did not notify the complainant of the reason for continued detention and did not provide the complainant with his rights to counsel."

Misconduct serious, hearing officer finds

Redman said Saliba's misconduct was serious because "an innocent man was unlawfully arrested and subsequently Tasered multiple times." Saliba was a supervisor and was responsible to prevent this type of incident, not enable it, Redman wrote.

"By failing to take a leadership role in a challenging situation when she should have, she failed to meet the standard of conduct expected of her, and violated her oath of office," the decision says.

Redman said "there is no doubt in my mind" that Sgt. Saliba recognized the seriousness of her misconduct, noting that she immediately apologized upon verifying O'Gilvie's identity, offered him assistance, and wrote an apology letter that was read aloud in court.

She said Sgt. Saliba's "exemplary and previously unblemished" career with the service suggests this was out of character, and her remorse shows she will likely not repeat such behaviour. 

Redman noted Saliba has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of previous work-related traumas.

Sgt. Saliba has been an officer with the Toronto Police Service for 17 years and became a sergeant in 2020.