Probe finds excess force used in TTC dispute
Report calls constables’ use of violence against passenger unnecessary
TTC officers involved in a violent altercation with a passenger this year employed “unnecessary force” and discriminated against the man because they suspected he had a mentalhealth condition, an independent investigator has found.
The incident occurred Feb. 7 on an eastbound Queen streetcar. A short video of it posted online by a bystander showed two TTC special constables fighting with a passenger and deploying pepper spray, and sparked concern from the public and city councillors about how transit officers treat vulnerable people riding the system.
In a report commissioned by the TTC and released Friday, Melody Jahanzadeh, a workplace investigator with Rubin Thomlinson LLP, determined two special constables and one fare inspector “used unnecessary force” in the altercation, which she found began after the passenger refused to provide proof he’d paid his fare.
In a statement, the TTC said it accepts all four of Jahanzadeh’s recommendations, which include improving its training for officers dealing with people who may have mental-health conditions.
“I am fully committed to making the TTC a leader in the diversity and inclusion space. I want all Torontonians to be proud of us and to feel welcomed by us,” TTC CEO Rick Leary said in a statement.
Dariusz Nowotny, vice-president of CUPE Local 5089, the union representing transit officers, slammed the investigator’s conclusions as a “veiled attack not only on the three members of this local but also on the rest of the department.”
Nowotny said the officers were injured in the altercation and described them, not the passenger, as the victims in the case. He accused the TTC of not protecting its employees.
He said in May the passenger pleaded guilty to two charges of assaulting a peace officer in relation to the February incident, and he had a history of “behaving violently on TTC property and off.”
The Star couldn’t independently confirm all the union’s allegations about the passenger. He isn’t named in the report, and Jahanzadeh said he
declined to participate in the investigation.
Of the four officers involved, two were special constables, and two were fare inspectors. Constables are responsible for enforcing the Criminal Code and other laws on the transit system, and have limited police powers. Inspectors are responsible for enforcing fare payment, and don’t have the same authority to use force.
Jahanzadeh determined the altercation kicked off after a fare inspector asked the passenger for his proof of payment and he “aggressively refused.” The inspector called over the
other officers and when the man, who Jahandzadeh found was “belligerent” and swearing, again refused to prove he paid, the constables asked him to leave the streetcar.
The passenger stood up and the constables “made the initial physical contact” by grabbing his arms, then “escalated the struggle,” the investigator wrote.
A short struggle ensued, with the officers and the passenger flailing and punching at each other and one constable deploying pepper spray. As they continued to struggle, one of the inspectors used her fingers to apply a pressure point on the base of the passenger’s neck for 35 seconds.
After the struggle, the constable handcuffed the man and bent him over the seat at an approximately 90-degree angle for about two minutes and 40 seconds until police arrived.
The investigator concluded the constables punching the passenger was “reasonable, proportionate, and necessary” because the man had punched them. But she said the constables’ “initial application of force was unnecessary” given that the passenger was attempting to exit and hadn’t been told he was under arrest.
She also found the use of pepper spray and bending the passenger over the seat wasn’t warranted.
While the special constables told Jahanzadeh they felt justified in using force because they believed the passenger was dangerous, she determined there was no evidence he was a threat.
TTC spokesperson Stuart Green said he couldn’t comment on the employment status of the officers who were found to have violated policy because “we are still working through the disciplinary process.”