Police board chair admits misconduct over media remarks
Comments made on incident involving city councillor
Police board chair Lloyd Ferguson has been briefly suspended for breaching the code of conduct for “unfair” comments he made about a contentious hearing related to carding.
Ferguson, in an agreed statement of facts accepted by the Ontario Civilian Police Commission, admitted “misconduct,” agreed with the proposed discipline and vowed to publicly apologize and retract the offending comments.
The three week suspension from the board is backdated to Dec. 18, when he stepped down as a result of the OCPC probe.
That means Ferguson will not miss a board meeting. He has indicated he will run for the board chair position again Jan. 18.
Coun. Matthew Green filed a complaint against the police board chair with the civilian police watchdog following comments Ferguson made on a radio show in June related to a police disciplinary hearing.
Green said Tuesday he was satisfied with the findings of the commission but added he expects a more fulsome apology from Ferguson than offered so far.
The hearing at issue was called after Hamilton Const. Andrew Pfeifer was accused of arbitrarily stopping Green, who is black.
The councillor argued the arbitrary “carding” stop was a case of racial profiling.
A decision has not yet been rendered in the case.
Ferguson prompted the OCPC complaint by going on the radio and suggesting the officer was charged “for doing his job.”
The commission found Ferguson’s radio musings were unfair to Green and risked giving the impression the board was not impartial in the disciplinary hearing.
It also called his later comments about community safety and new carding rules “unfortunate.” In a written statement Tuesday, Ferguson apologized to Green “and any other people who may have been offended by my remarks.”
“I would like to formally rescind the comments made on the radio show and look forward to returning to the Board and resuming my duties as Chair,” he wrote.
Ferguson said in the statement he “let my passions for policing and public safety and my utmost respect for the hardworking men and women of Hamilton Police Service to overshadow my duties as a member of the (police) board.”
Green said he is “looking forward to a full written apology” that acknowledges why the comments were wrong and how they affected the community.
The Ward 3 councillor dismissed the “time served” suspension over Christmas as “disingenuous” and again noted “serious concerns” about the length of time it took for the commission to decide to investigate his June complaint.
But Green added he is satisfied with the “comprehensive” nature of the commission’s explanation of what was wrong with Ferguson’s media musings. “He just didn’t malign myself … this is about the impact on communities, particularly racialized communities,” he said.
Green also expressed hope the episode would help spur the province to move ahead with implementing more recommendations from Justice Michael Tulloch’s independent review of police oversight in Ontario, including better training for board members.
The decision noted Ferguson sought a mediated settlement, but Green declined.
Green’s lawyer in the carding hearing, Wade Poziomka, noted by email his client was “looking for transparency and accountability” via a public commission decision.
He also expressed disappointment with the offered apology. “From my perspective, it appeared to be more of a testimonial to his service to the community than a genuine acknowledgement of the impact of his statements,” he said.