INQUIRY INTO DRUG SQUAD 'RIDICULOUS'

Union Head Slams Allegations Against Cops

Calls for a public inquiry into the Toronto Police drug squad scandal and
the firings of cops who do not face criminal charges are "ludicrous,"
police union president Rick McIntosh says. The normally reserved McIntosh
was furious yesterday over demands he says come from the "usual suspects"
following the release of controversial affidavits by the Ontario court of
appeal.

The documents contain a myriad of allegations against six officers who face
criminal charges and up to a dozen others.

"I find these things very bothersome," McIntosh said. "There are just
allegations, innuendo, from, let's face it, people who have no respect for
society, for your family."

McIntosh said a public inquiry will take years and instead of solving
systemic problems, it will only make things worse.

"It will keep the cloud of suspicion over the whole service," McIntosh said.

Toronto residents should be more concerned about "major issues" like drugs
and guns, he said.

"To listen to lawyers who have a vested interest in defending drug dealers
and (mobsters) is ridiculous," McIntosh said.

"People are thinking that the sky is falling in here ... I have personally
been accused of this stuff, as has almost every officer that has worked in
any squad at one time or another."

An RCMP-led internal probe initiated by Toronto Police Chief Julian Fantino
two years ago has led to criminal charges against six former Central Field
Command drug squad officers: Staff-Sgt. John Schertzer, Det. Steve Correia,
Det. Raymond Pollard and officers Joseph Miched, Rick Benoit and Ned Maodus.

Four other officers -- Jason Kondo, Greg Forestall, Jonathan Reid and Mike
Turnbull -- have been named as unindicted co-conspirators, but do not face
charges.

McIntosh added that a lawyer's call for the firings of uncharged officers
alleged of wrongdoing in a series of affidavits is "ridiculous."