Officer still on payroll 11 years after suspension
A Toronto police officer was ordered fired Monday after almost 11 years on paid suspension following his arrest on shocking allegations he helped an Eastern European organized crime group with drug trafficking and kidnapping.
Const. Ioan-Florin Floria’s immediate appeal of the firing decision, however, means he will continue to draw his full salary. “Const. Floria has been suspended for 10 years and he is well beyond rehabilitation. His conduct was so egregious and revealed fundamental character flaws which effectively exhaust (his) potential usefulness to perform the key duties of a police officer,” now-retired Toronto police superintendent Debra Preston, the hearing officer for the Police Services Act charges, wrote in her lengthy decision. “Each of the four counts of misconduct for which Cont. Floria was found guilty constitutes serious misconduct that goes to the integrity that is essential to serve as a police officer,” she wrote. “There were times when Const. Floria seemed to forget that he was a police officer … A finding of guilt on four very serious charges makes dismissal the only reasonable penalty.” Floria was acquitted of criminal charges at a trial in 2012 but rather than return to duty he remained suspended while facing disciplinary charges under the Police Services Act. Under Ontario law, unlike other provinces, suspended police officers remain on the payroll unless convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment.
Floria was an eight-year veteran of the Toronto’s traffic unit in 2007 when he was among 25 people arrested in Canada and the United States after raids and seizures uncovered cocaine, marijuana, handguns and stolen vehicles. At the time of the arrests, police alleged Floria searched confidential police databases for information to assist the criminal organization, taught traffickers how to avoid detection and helped cover up two violent kidnappings by gang members. A jury found him not guilty. Last year, however, Floria was found guilty of breach of confidence, insubordination and two counts of discreditable conduct stemming from the same allegations at a disciplinary hearing. His sentencing was held Monday.
The hearing found that a victim of a kidnapping and torture, who had obvious signs of trauma, approached Floria in 2005. The victim knew the officer socially. Instead of reporting the incident, Floria told the victim not to report it to police, that he would investigate personally and not to seek medical attention as hospital staff would alert police. Floria was also on duty when he was told of an ongoing kidnapping, sexual assault and torture of two other people. He did not report it, preventing police intervening in the attacks. Two victims were beaten and one of them raped, the hearing found.
Over six years, Floria conducted 70 database searches on people and license plates that were not for police business, sometimes using another officer’s computer. The searches included friends of his who were members of the criminal underworld, the hearing found.
“The public trust is an essential element of the legitimacy of a police service. This is particularly true for vulnerable people and victims of crime,” wrote Preston. “Police officers have the capability to arrest people and because of that power, they also have the utmost responsibility to hold themselves accountable to the highest standards of ethics and integrity.”
Floria disputed the criminal elements of his actions but admitted failings in at least one of the charges, calling it the “biggest mistake in my life.”