Police block video of youth arrests
Recording shows TAVIS officers interfering with phone’s camera
The video opens with one black youth being detained and another searched by two officers in the parking lot of a plaza at Jane St. and Lawrence Ave. W., a routine scene for an area of Toronto where police have stopped and documented — or “carded” — citizens the most.
Concerned about carding and its racial disparities, passerby Mike Miller, who witnessed this scene on Sept. 14, decided to turn on his phone’s camera.
Moments later, the video shows two more officers arriving from TAVIS, a provincially funded unit. One of the arresting officers directs the backup officers to “turn the camera on that guy.”
The backup officers, Constables Brian Smith and Shawn Gill, get so close to Miller that his lens is filled with their images instead of the arrest. He has to keep stepping backwards to get away from them as they ask why he’s filming and why he’s there.
Miller says he was, at times, intimidated and scared. Miller asks the officer to “get out of my personal space,” a request they ignore. “I’m just talking to you,” says Gill. “You’re videotaping. I can’t engage you in conversation?”
Officers know they can be filmed by the public, says the Toronto Police Service.
In 2010, after a community meeting about carding, Miller complained about police attitudes to Deputy Chief Peter Sloly. He says Sloly told him, “If there is something like that going on, just whip out your camera and shoot it. Because you have the right.”
In this case, though, police say the con- stables should have told Miller they were blocking his view because the youths were 15 and 16.
“Their identities are protected by law, and certainly while we feel the officers’ concerns were appropriate, their lack of communication in this regard was not,” said police spokeswoman Meaghan Gray.
“I think that a clear explanation could have and should have been provided to the citizen who was doing the filming, as to why they did not want those boys being filmed.”
It’s unclear if the officers will face any discipline. Their supervisor has seen the video and police say a review is underway. “There’s no one here who feels that their response was appropriate,” said Gray.
The Star informed the two officers, via email and through police, that a story was coming and sought their response. None had been received at time of publication.
Miller’s encounter with TAVIS officers took place around 5 p.m. on Sept. 14. He saw the cruiser with a TAVIS logo drive slowly up Jane St. as he crossed the intersection with the two youths, who were part of a larger group. He says he knew what was going to happen.
Miller, 36, grew up in the Jane St. and Lawrence Ave. W. neighbourhood and is familiar with TAVIS, and the major crime and undercover offi- cers who were present there before TAVIS was created. He says what happened the day he filmed that interaction was pretty typical.
“When you express your rights, this is how police sort of deal with you,” says Miller. “They want to put you in your place and belittle you and make you feel humiliated.”
In the video, Gill turns away from Miller to join the arresting officers. Smith continues to block Miller’s view and tells him the recording “is going to look good on World Star,” a hip-hop entertainment and news site.
“He’s assuming that I’m trying to shoot something to make him look bad so I can put it up on World Star hip-hop and get a whole bunch of views,” says Miller, a former youth worker who is now a professional videographer.
Miller kept on shooting anyway — figuring that if something happened, the youth workers he knew in the community could put him in touch with police Chief Mark Saunders. The chief was a familiar visitor to organizations in 12 Division, where he had been a superintendent.
Miller did talk to Saunders by phone. He says he wanted to give him a heads-up and let him know that the encounter had affected him negatively.
“I actually think the leadership of the police department is reasonable, and I don’t want to come across like I’m anti-police,” says Miller of the phone call. “And I don’t want to blindside the leadership. Plus, I was worried about my safety.”
Saunders encouraged Miller to file a complaint with the Office of the Independent Police Review Director, which Miller is considering.
In the end, both teenagers were charged with possession of marijuana.