Face Francie
Francie Munoz, the 29-year-old woman with Down syndrome who was cruelly mocked by two Toronto police constables during a traffic stop last fall, faced her bullies for the first time since the incident at their disciplinary hearing this week. “I looked at them,” she said afterward. “They did not look at me.”
One hopes the constables’ averted gaze reflects appropriate shame for their mean-spirited actions, but both they and their employer ought to face Munoz and the troubling questions her story raises.
After stopping the young woman and her mother, Pamela, last November for an alleged traffic violation, the officers, Sasa Sljivo and Matthew Saris, returned to their cruiser and began to insult Munoz. They called her a half woman and “a little disfigured,” among other puerile epithets caught on their dash cam. The video shows them laughing, despite the total absence of wit.
Yet if they feel shame, they have not adequately expressed it to Munoz, her mother or other members of the community who rallied behind the family at this week’s disciplinary hearing. Pamela Munoz said she would drop her complaint to the Office of the Independent Police Review Director if the officers agreed to apologize to Francie in person and on camera. They refused her terms, preferring instead to send a generic letter of apology, and now stand charged with professional misconduct.
If the officers won’t show convincing contrition, the force must do it for them. The insults hurled by the officers suggest a profound disrespect for members of the community they serve. “People are frightened,” Pamela Munoz told reporters on Tuesday. “Will our kids be looked at differently by the police, will they not take care of them if they need help?”
The Toronto Police Service should make clear that this sort of behaviour won’t be tolerated. Police Chief Mark Saunders has so far said the right things, swiftly apologizing to the Munoz family in person and disavowing the officers’ behaviour. But now he must show he means it.
The force can begin by taking Francie Munoz up on her suggestion that all police officers should receive better training in dealing with people with disabilities. And they ought to send a clear message to officers and the public alike that the failure of police to treat those they are meant to serve with dignity and respect will be met with stiff consequences.
Toronto police should make it clear that the cruel treatment of Francie Munoz will be met with consequences