VETERAN OFFICERS FACE 40 CHARGES

Took Law Into Their Own Hands, Says RCMP

Grim Chief Fantino Insists Problem Is `Isolated, Confined'

Six Toronto police veterans have been accused of taking the law into
their own hands and acting like the drug dealers they were supposed to
catch.

The longest and costliest investigation into alleged corruption in the
Toronto force has resulted in the six officers being accused of
committing 22 Criminal Code of Canada offences - a total of 40
individual charges - while investigating the illicit drug trade with
the central field command drug squad between 1997 and 2002.

The officers - with a combined 113 years of service - allegedly lied
in court, made up bogus search warrants, falsified internal police
records and fabricated potential evidence in their notebooks, RCMP
Chief Superintendent John Neily told reporters yesterday.

"Police officers are not above the law," Neily said, at times sounding
like an outraged judge, as Toronto police Chief Julian Fantino looked
on grimly.

"It never has been and never will be acceptable for police to engage
in criminal activity or take the law into their own hands," Neily
said. "There is no excuse."

Fantino said he was deeply saddened and disappointed by the charges
against the six officers.

"Without doubt and from all points of view, this whole situation is
indeed quite regrettable.''

"I can, however, tell you that the allegations are isolated and
confined."

But Rick McIntosh, head of the 7,000-member police union, cautioned
that the officers are presumed to be innocent until a court says otherwise.

"Just because they're charged doesn't mean they're guilty," he said in
an interview. "They're entitled to the same judicial process as
everyone else."

Police union lawyer Gary Clewley was asked by a reporter if the courts
should accept the word of drug dealers, who are making some of the
accusations, or that of the officers.

"No, never," he told reporters. "Always go with the police officers.
These are seasoned officers with an unblemished career, and they
expect the judicial system to treat them fairly."

Lawyer Harry Black said his client, Staff Sergeant John Schertzer, was
an outstanding officer who will be "exonerated when all the facts come
out in court."

The stunning allegations sent other defence lawyers hurrying back to
their files, checking to see whether any of their criminal cases had
been compromised because of the alleged wrongdoings by the six, along
with four other unindicted, but accused co-conspirator officers.

Neily was unable to say how many drug cases were put in jeopardy
because of the allegations against the police officers, but he said
the pertinent findings of the task force had been forwarded to the
justice department.

He said it will be up to federal prosecutors to decide what, if any,
action should be taken.

In a later interview, he stressed that anyone who feels they were
wrongly convicted in cases involving the officers should pursue the
matter with the courts.

Schertzer, Constables Joseph Miched, Ray Pollard, Ned Maodus, Richard
Benoit and Steve Correia have been suspended with pay and ordered to
turn in their firearms.

The six charged were released on bail, ranging from $25,000 to
$35,000, and warned not to talk to each other while they await their
trial.

The case could take as much as three years to come to
trial.

The officers who weren't charged but accused of conspiring with the
six are:

Detectives Jason Kondo and Jonathan Reid and Constables Mike Turnbull
and Greg Forestall.

Over the past two years, the task force spent around $3 million and
compiled about 560,000 pages of evidence, which will soon be handed
over to lawyers on computer discs.

In what was called a "sad day" for the force, Neily accused the
officers of betraying the public trust and jeopardizing the justice
system.

"Integrity is what separates the police from the criminals we
investigate," Neily said.

"If the public can't trust the trustees, then who can the public
trust?"

Said Neily, who headed up the task force: "The accused demonstrated a
pattern of attempting to obstruct, pervert or defeat the course of
justice."

While he was speaking at police headquarters on College St., the
officers were sitting in the prisoner's box at an east-end courthouse.

None of the officers was handcuffed or shackled as they were led into
the docket, unlike the standard practice for those accused of criminal
offences.

Court officers relaxed the normally strict rules of the courtroom,
allowing some members of the police association to approach the box,
talk to the officers and shake hands on breaks and prior to court
beginning. Typically, members of the public are restricted to the
gallery and are ordered not to communicate with those in custody.

Police union spokesperson Andrew Clarke later denied that the officers
received special treatment, saying they were fingerprinted and
photographed at a police station before being driven to the Eglinton
Ave. court and taken in through the prisoner's entrance at the rear of
the building.

In court, Crown Attorney Milan Rupic told Justice of the Peace
Inderpaul Chandhoke that he was consenting to the release of the
officers and thus did not require a full bail hearing.

He and defence lawyer Andrew McKay, who was acting on behalf of all
the officers for the hearing, agreed to bail conditions specified by
Chandhoke.

After they were finished in court, they walked out the front door of
the Scarborough courthouse, where they were photographed by the
gathered news media.

The officiers declined to comment.

"We're walking out the front door because we have nothing to hide,"
said McKay.

Speaking at the press conference, Fantino said, "There is no denying
that the reputation of the Toronto Police Service and especially the
current members of the Central Drug Squad have suffered adverse
exposure in the media, within the workings of the criminal justice
system and indeed with the public generally."

Fantino said he hopes public trust has been strengthened by the fact
the investigation was begun by the city police and the probe was done
thoroughly, professionally, ethically and independently.

"I think that should inspire the public in our ability to deal with
these issues."