Durham officer charged with street racing

Source: Toronto Star


Durham Regional Police Staff Sgt. John Givelas, shown in a file photo, has been charged with racing/JIL MCINTOSH/TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTO

Thandiwe Vela
Staff Reporter

A Durham Regional Police officer has been charged with street racing two weeks after his vehicle was pulled over in Ajax.


Givelas was off duty and driving his personal car when he was pulled over just before 5 a.m. on March 9 as he drove eastbound on Taunton Rd. near Westney Rd.

Selby would not confirm the speed at which the car was clocked when it was pulled over.

However, to warrant a racing charge, Selby said it would have been observed travelling at least 50 km/h over the posted limit of 80 km/h on that roadway

Givelas was at one time a traffic services branch sergeant. Selby would not give his age or number of years with the force, describing him only as a “veteran.”

He has been transferred to a job in a different division pending the outcome of the charges.

“It’s normal protocol to make sure everything’s above board on the case,” said Selby.

Givelas is scheduled to appear in court in late April.

Local police officer charged with assault

Source: The Record
Record staff
BRANTFORD — A Waterloo Regional Police officer has been assigned to desk duties after being charged with assault.

Const. Gerry Christopher, a 10-year member of the service, was charged in connection with a March 18 incident that police say occurred outside the jurisdiction of Waterloo Region. He was not on duty at the time.

He was arrested by Brantford police on March 18.

Christopher had been working in the break and enter unit in Waterloo but has since been reassigned to administrative duties.

Police aren’t releasing much more information on the incident.

“We’re unable to discuss the details of the incident but in the interest of transparency and accountability we want to ensure our community is aware that one of our police officers has been charged criminally,” said Supt. Steve Beckett.

Christopher has been charged with assault and with being unlawfully in a dwelling house with intent to commit an indictable offence.

A dwelling house is a residence.

He is scheduled to appear in Brantford Provincial Court on May 6.

Police board backs bid for suspensions without pay

Source : The Spec
March 23, 2010
Daniel Nolan
The Hamilton Spectator
(Mar 23, 2010)
Hamilton Police Services Board is backing a proposal to permit police chiefs to suspend officers facing criminal charges without pay if a chief deems the offence serious enough.

The proposal comes from a white paper prepared in February by the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police. The Hamilton board agreed to join other boards in asking Community Safety Minister Rick Bartolucci to amend a section of the Police Services Act that only permits a chief to suspend an officer facing a criminal offence with pay.

Police Chief Glenn De Caire said there is no particular event that led the chief's association to push for this, but it has been sought for a long time and was recently advanced by Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair. He said the idea is not to penalize an officer who might face charges in the performance of his duties, but for something "so egregious" outside of work, such as charges of sexual assault and homicide.

"Those are cases where a chief needs to have the ability to suspend without pay," De Caire said.

Hamilton has recently had some high-profile cases of officers facing charges related to their duties under the Police Services Act. One former senior officer faces a raft of corruption charges relating to the alleged theft of $60,000 from various police funds, but that officer retired before charges were laid. A couple of Hamilton officers face criminal charges in connection with alleged domestic assaults.

The force has 787 officers.

Mayor Fred Eisenberger called the proposal "a wise step." The mayor indicated it would "calm citizens" who have expressed concern about officers being paid while facing a criminal charge.

"It's a position that's long overdue," the mayor told the board. "I've always been understanding we are tied by the Police Services Act, even when we sit here and say, 'This isn't right.' Clearly, there should be a process to suspend pay."

However, Mike Thomas, president of the Hamilton Police Association, said the proposal "flies in the face of fundamental justice" where a person is innocent until proven guilty. He also has concerns about leaving such a discretionary decision up to a police chief and notes there is no appeal mechanism with a chief's decision.

"To a police officer, anything under the Criminal Code is a serious circumstance," said Thomas.

He notes the white paper, quoting Chief Blair, says the move is not about money. But Thomas points out the white paper includes cases of four Ontario police forces dealing with charged officers and details how much they spent in pay and benefits until charges were dealt with by the courts or the officer left the force. It amounted to more than $1.3 million.

"Don't you think that's strange?" said Thomas. "It is about money."

dnolan@thespec.com

905-526-3351

100k a year for friends of the court...

In 2004 250 Toronto police officers made over one hundred thousand dollars, in 2009 a whopping 1329 officers joined the 100k club
One fine officer, Michael Thompson is a homicide detective, no doubt concerned with $afety, made $161,892 in 2009 writting traffic tickets, with 62 homicides in Toronto in 2009, was it a slow year?

Who's to blame for this mess?
Politicians eager to gain your vote at the polls, or the police budget demands to keep us safe?

Next time your stopped and ticketed, thank the officer for saving your life, but your going to fight the ticket, and I'm sure the officer will thank you!