‘Punishment doesn’t fit crime’
Former officer ‘disappointed’ with punishment after botched investigation
A former Niagara Regional Police officer says he’s “deeply disappointed” with disciplinary actions expected to be taken against a police officer, whose botched investigation resulted in a violent assault against him in August 2019.
“It was a comedy of errors,” said Dean Rudge, who was severely beaten by a man wielding a baseball bat after police took no action when the same man threatened to kill him about two months earlier.
After past efforts by police to downplay the incident, Rudge said he was “taken aback” by the punishment Const. Elyse Giosi was expected to receive.
Giosi pleaded guilty to charges of misconduct and insubordination during a Niagara Regional Police disciplinary committee meeting Wednesday.
Police spokesperson Stephanie Sabourin said the hearing officer will provide a written decision at a later date, “which will be provided to the Office of the Independent Police Review Director and posted for the public.”
But Rudge said lawyers representing both the prosecution and defence made a joint submission at the hearing, recommending less vacation time for Giosi as punishment — four hours loss of leave on one count, and eight hours loss of leave on the other count.
“That’s 12 hours or one shift. She books off sick for one shift and she’s done,” he said.
Rudge said he told the hearing officer he was “offended,” when asked about the recommended penalty against Giosi.
The recommended punishment, he added, “was insult to injury.”
“The punishment doesn’t fit the crime.”
An agreed upon statement of facts, presented during the hearing, said Giosi did not record any witness information after she was called to Rudge’s Welland home responding to a complaint that a man who identified himself as Paul Paparoni threatened to kill him.
“She did not try to resolve conflicts in the accounts nor seek out other witnesses although Rudge said there were neighbours who heard or saw the ruckus,” the statement says.
The statement says Giosi then failed to respond to repeated phone calls from Rudge prior to the Aug. 20, 2019 assault on him, describing her actions as insubordinate.
“Additionally, Const. Giosi is expected to conduct a thorough and complete investigation which would include but is not limited to taking formal statements and canvassing for witnesses,” the statement continues.
“Const. Giosi committed neglect of duty when she failed to take these investigative steps in relation to Mr. Rudge’s initial call for police assistance regarding a male threatening to kill him while out front of his residence.”
Rudge, who now works as a self-employed barber, and said he lost 20 days of income due to his injuries following the assault. Paparoni was charged and later convicted for the crime.
“In the statement of fact, they totally ignored that my arms took the brunt of it,” he said, adding it was those injuries that were most damaging to him from a professional perspective.
Rudge was convicted in 2013 of breach of trust for providing confidential information to the Hells Angels during a police investigation in 2004, although he continues to deny the crime.
But as a result of that conviction that ended his career as a police officer, Rudge felt the police response to the incident was biased.
He said his complaints were initially described as of a minor nature, and police officials suggested it could be resolved with an apology from the officer involved.
The Office of the Independent Police Review Director, however, ruled on April 27 that the misconduct was of a serious nature, and ordered that a disciplinary hearing be held.