A senior Toronto police officer has been found guilty of two professional misconduct charges after allowing her nephew to leave the scene of a single-vehicle crash in 2022.
On Wednesday, Toronto Police Service (TPS) Inspector Joyce Schertzer was found guilty on one count each of discreditable conduct and neglect of duty at a police tribunal hearing in downtown Toronto. Schertzer was found not guilty on a third count of neglect of duty.
The high-ranking officer has been with the service for more than three decades.
On May 1, 2022, Schertzer’s nephew crashed his pick-up truck into a city-owned utility pole on Lakeshore Boulevard. According to Schertzer’s testimony at a June hearing, she received a call from her daughter, also a police officer, informing her of the collision not long after.
The tribunal heard that Schertzer, working at 11 Division that day, arranged for an officer from her division to be “dispatched” to 14 Division where the crash occurred, circumventing the usual priority system “to the benefit of [her] family.” Schertzer previously testified that she thought Lake Shore Boulevard West was in 11 Division, not 14, which border one another.
Schertzer also showed up at the scene and became “actively involved in the investigation,” the tribunal heard.
She testified in June that she did not visit the scene of the crash to interfere with the investigation but rather, to make sure her nephew was well and safe.
“I went there for the safety and well being of my nephew,” she said. “I needed to advocate for him if he had any trouble communicating.”
Upon her arrival, she found her nephew and deemed him “completely sober,” she said.
“There was no odour of alcohol on him. His eyes were clear and they were not bloodshot. His speech was not slurred. He had no odour,” she told the tribunal. “If I thought for one second that my nephew was impaired I would have arrested him myself.”
Schertzer’s nephew was cleared to leave the collision scene about 10 minutes after talking to the officer from 11 Division, according to tribunal documents.
The incident saw Schertzer charged with three counts of professional misconduct under Ontario’s Police Services Act. She pleaded not guilty to all three counts.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the president of the Toronto Police Association Jon Reid said he respected the tribunal’s decision, and that officers in supervisory positions must be held to higher standards.
“It is the position of the Toronto Police Association that the disciplinary process be applied fairly in every case, regardless of rank. We respect the decision made by the Hearings Officer regarding the matter involving Inspector Joyce Schertzer, but this is only the first step in accountability,” the statement reads.
“We will watch closely to see what penalty is imposed on the inspector,” he said. “Without a fair and consistent process, we will continue to lose faith in a disciplinary system that is already perceived as unfavourable and unreliable for our members.”
A hearing for submissions on Schertzer’s penalty will be held on Oct. 28.