‘Items of interest’ found at home linked to alleged serial killer
Sgt. Derrick Gaudet and police service dog Major emerge from a ravine on Wednesday behind the Leaside home where human remains were found earlier this year in the Bruce McArthur investigation. More potential evidence was found, but police said no information will be released until testing is done by the coroner’s office.
There’s “insufficient evidence” to support claims that transit staff racially profiled a Black youth earlier this year on a streetcar, according to a report released by the TTC on Wednesday.
In February, a scuffle between a Black teen and fare inspectors broke out at a transit stop along the St. Clair West streetcar line, spurring public outcry and allegations that the youth had been targeted because of the colour of his skin.
The report does however single out one of three inspectors, deeming his behaviour unprofessional and amounting to “discreditable conduct.” The inspector had smiled, it says, likely “in a condescending manner,” which potentially made an already “tense” situation worse. That the interaction hinges on a stare is “alarming,” said Butterfly Gopaul, spokesperson for Jane Finch Action Against Poverty group, noting the findings of the report, in general, are “disturbing.
“That’s so biased, that’s so arbitrary. It’s just another way of carding young, Black men in this city,” she said. “They bullied him, they targeted him. If these are the faces of Toronto the Good, then we are in a hot mess.”
The inspector resigned for an unrelated matter, said TTC spokesperson Stuart Green, who declined to elaborate.
“The day this happened, we immediately took action,” he said. “During the course of this investigation we did find that there were areas where we need to improve, in terms of how our fare inspection program works.”
City Councillor Neethan Shan, who doubles as the city’s youth advocate, said he’s “not convinced” all boxes were checked to de-escalate the situation.
“In situations like that,” he said, “you need to realize who has power, who has authority, who has protection and to act accordingly to that. I still have a lot more questions to ask.”
The report highlights five recommendations, which will go before the TTC board on July 10. They include implementing policies and procedures specific to transit fare inspectors, which, as Green told the Star, were already being worked on prior to the incident in question; clear direction concerning the use of force for inspectors; and “advance regular diversity, inclusion and human rights training as part of the transit fare inspectors’ biannual refresher program.”
In footage of the Feb. 18 encounter released by the TTC, a Black youth is seen travelling on a westbound streetcar on St. Clair Ave. W. According to the report, he is facing a fare inspector, who is eventually joined by two other inspectors. They cannot be seen on camera.
When the streetcar stops at Bathurst St. and the doors open, the video shows the youth disembark followed by the fare inspectors.
The youth then re-enters the streetcar, facing the inspectors, who are standing outside.
The youth then presses the button to open the doors, and walks towards a fare inspector who pushes the teen backward and into the car. The youth falls on his back, leaps to his feet, re-approaches and takes a swing at one inspector.
A scuffle then ensues mostly off-camera. Video captured by a witness shows the youth pinned to ground by police officers; he cries out, “You’re hurting me.”
According to the report, the inspector who pushed the teen had smiled at him before the scuffle ensued.
But the report says the inspectors’ physical response and arrest were considered to be “reasonable, justified, consistent with the training provided, and did not constitute an assault.” No criminal charges were laid. Calls placed to the teen were not returned by press time.
The inspector claimed the teen had locked into a “dead stare” with him onboard the streetcar, which made him feel “very uncomfortable,” the report says, adding that he had tried to communicate with the passenger four times.
“It was found, more likely than not, that (the inspector) did not unfairly infer the Customer’s continuous stare was unusual and ‘intimidating,’ causing a heightened concern,” the report says, noting that attempts to communicate were not unreasonable, neither was detaining the youth “using their body weight.”
In a midday news release, Toronto’s ombudsman’s office said it has requested the TTC’s “complete investigation file” to review its work to find out if the investigation was “appropriately thorough, fair and transparent and whether its conclusions are reasonable, based on the available evidence.”