Ones that got away

In the end, Toronto police Const. Babak Andalib-Goortani is getting off with a slap on the wrist.

On Monday, the only officer convicted for using excessive force at the G20 summit was docked five days’ pay at a police disciplinary tribunal. He will keep his job.

In itself, that outcome is disturbing. Andalib-Goortani was convicted of assaulting a protester, Adam Nobody, at the summit protests back in 2010. And last month, he pleaded guilty to misconduct under Ontario’s Police Services Act. He should have been kicked off the Toronto force.

The bigger stakes in all this, however, involve the officers who were not convicted or disciplined. Andalib-Goortani was one of five who arrested Nobody as he was peacefully demonstrating on the lawn of Queen’s Park. The other four were charged with disciplinary offences, but all the charges were dismissed — even though Nobody suffered a broken nose and cheekbone after being kicked and beaten.

In fact, Andalib-Goortani was not responsible for the worst damage to Nobody. He came on the scene at the end of the incident. Retired judge Lee Ferrier, who heard his case, likened the officer’s actions to a “prodding” that was “barely over the line of wrongfulness.”

So what about the cops that got away? A full five years after the G20 protests, only a handful have faced significant discipline and just one has been convicted of a crime.

Ninety-one officers were simply docked a day’s pay for removing their badges to prevent civilians from identifying them. Many others got away with no penalty whatsoever for acts of excessive force.

This despite the fact that1,100 protesters were arrested during the summit — some of them charged, beaten, and strip-searched.

In the end, Ferrier ruled the fallout from the assault had “wreaked havoc on the life” of Andalib-Goortani, including the loss of his house, a diagnosis of depression, the end of his marriage, and being confined to a desk job.

He did not address the effect of the assault on the victim — or on public confidence in their police force. It’s a sorry outcome.

Only one of five officers who arrested peaceful demonstrator Adam Nobody has been convicted