News (Media Awareness Project) - CN ON: Drug Cops To Face Charges |
| Title: | CN ON: Drug Cops To Face Charges |
| Published On: | 2003-12-30 |
| Source: | Toronto Sun (CN ON) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-01-19 02:09:37 |
DRUG COPS TO FACE CHARGES
Corruption Probe In 'Final Phase'
Charges are imminent against an unspecified number of former Toronto Police
drug squad officers accused of criminal conduct, court documents reveal. In
an affidavit filed last week in an Ontario Court of Appeal case that freed
alleged drug dealer Kai Sum (Simon) Yeung 30 months ago, RCMP Chief Supt.
John Neily asked that court records in the Yeung case be sealed for another
month or "upon the laying of criminal charges."
Neily, who heads a 25-member Toronto Police internal affairs task force
probing allegations of corruption in the now-disbanded drug squad, said his
probe has reached its "final phase."
SEALING ORDER
Neily wrote that the temporary extension would "protect a vulnerable
witness and preserve the integrity of the criminal investigation ...
pending the laying of criminal charges."
Sources say that as many as a dozen officers will be charged under the
Criminal Code and Police Services Act within weeks.
Neily's affidavit supported an application by the attorney general to get a
seventh consecutive sealing order in the Yeung case.
The latest seal was to expire today but appeal court judges extended it
through Jan. 30, 2004, as Neily requested.
DRUGS STOLEN
Yeung is one of numerous complainants who allege drugs, cash and valuables
were stolen during police raids in the mid and late 1990s.
Yeung was released from Collins Bay prison in July 2001 after serving 18
months of a 45-month sentence for drug offences.
After his release, Yeung sued two drug squad officers for $2.7-million,
claiming they investigated him in a "high-handed, arbitrary and malicious
manner."
The City of Toronto settled the suit without any admission of wrongdoing.
In the affidavit, Neily wrote that he was concerned that the task force's
intentions not be "advertised in advance of the laying of charges ... laid
against whom, or precisely when that will occur."
Neily's description of charges, which he laid out "in general terms," were
edited from the public record by the appeal court.
Corruption Probe In 'Final Phase'
Charges are imminent against an unspecified number of former Toronto Police
drug squad officers accused of criminal conduct, court documents reveal. In
an affidavit filed last week in an Ontario Court of Appeal case that freed
alleged drug dealer Kai Sum (Simon) Yeung 30 months ago, RCMP Chief Supt.
John Neily asked that court records in the Yeung case be sealed for another
month or "upon the laying of criminal charges."
Neily, who heads a 25-member Toronto Police internal affairs task force
probing allegations of corruption in the now-disbanded drug squad, said his
probe has reached its "final phase."
SEALING ORDER
Neily wrote that the temporary extension would "protect a vulnerable
witness and preserve the integrity of the criminal investigation ...
pending the laying of criminal charges."
Sources say that as many as a dozen officers will be charged under the
Criminal Code and Police Services Act within weeks.
Neily's affidavit supported an application by the attorney general to get a
seventh consecutive sealing order in the Yeung case.
The latest seal was to expire today but appeal court judges extended it
through Jan. 30, 2004, as Neily requested.
DRUGS STOLEN
Yeung is one of numerous complainants who allege drugs, cash and valuables
were stolen during police raids in the mid and late 1990s.
Yeung was released from Collins Bay prison in July 2001 after serving 18
months of a 45-month sentence for drug offences.
After his release, Yeung sued two drug squad officers for $2.7-million,
claiming they investigated him in a "high-handed, arbitrary and malicious
manner."
The City of Toronto settled the suit without any admission of wrongdoing.
In the affidavit, Neily wrote that he was concerned that the task force's
intentions not be "advertised in advance of the laying of charges ... laid
against whom, or precisely when that will occur."
Neily's description of charges, which he laid out "in general terms," were
edited from the public record by the appeal court.
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