The road to dismissal

1998 — Turpin is convicted of a serious Police Act offence. Without a warrant, the officer went into Roderick Tamney’s house to ask his son questions about a missing friend. When Tamney protested, Turpin grabbed him by the arm and pushed him, causing the man to fall and be injured.

The next year, a review of Turpin found the officer failed in several areas of his job. 2006 — Turpin and a partner arrest a drunk and belligerent Martin Egan outside a bar in Whitby. At the station, just after removing Egan’s handcuffs, Turpin tells the prisoner, “I am going to punch your teeth right through the back of your head. Do you understand me?”

In the cell, Egan bangs on the door. Turpin tells him to stop and then takes him to the ground. Egan had to get nine stitches over his left eye. Turpin’s partner later said the officer was the aggressor and asked never to be partnered with him again. 2007 — Ryan Schwalm, hands cuffed behind his back and his pants around his ankles, is escorted by Turpin into a cell. Once inside, Turpin does a violent takedown manoeuvre, causing the drunken prisoner to smack into the cell wall. Schwalm, still cuffed, had no chance to break his fall. The takedown was caught on video. 2008 — Turpin is suspended with pay following another special review of his work.

“Police Constable Glen Turpin demonstrates that he has the knowledge and skill to complete excellent police work, but fails to perform at an acceptable level on a regular basis,” the review found. “This is reinforced through his failure to follow proper protocol when dealing with accused.” 2011 — Ontario’s Court of Appeal set aside Turpin’s criminal conviction for assaulting Martin Egan outside the Whitby bar in 2006 because of problems with trial judge’s interpretation of a garbled audio recording. At a new trial, Turpin pleaded guilty to threatening to cause bodily harm.

He received a conditional discharge.