Senior cop arrested for impaired driving

A high-ranking Toronto police officer who heads the force’s disciplinary tribunal has been arrested for impaired driving after a collision on Highway 401.

Supt. Riyaz Hussein was arrested Thursday evening by officers with the Ontario Provincial Police, following a collision involving a delivery truck.

OPP and Toronto police confirmed that Hussein, 54, was charged with impaired driving, careless driving and having open liquor while driving after a two-car collision just after 7 p.m. on Highway 401 near Pickering. According to a tweet from the OPP’s Highway Safety Division, the driver rear ended a delivery truck and sustained minor injuries.

The OPP confirmed Hussein has had his license suspended for 90 days and the vehicle he was driving has been impounded for seven days.

Hussein was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Toronto police confirmed in a news release.

“The Toronto Police Service recognizes the public interest implicit in the Hearing Officer role and is releasing this information proactively to the public,” the Toronto police statement reads.

Hussein has been suspended from the Toronto police with pay, as required by provincial legislation. Hussein could not be immediately reached for comment Friday.

Hussein is the officer in charge of the force’s disciplinary hearings office, the quasi-judicial tribunal that oversees professional misconduct by officers — including criminal offences such as impaired driving.

In that role, Hussein acts as the representative of the chief, deciding whether to find officers guilty of misconduct and what penalties they will face.

Last year, Hussein dismissed Toronto police officer Matthew Brewer for a series of criminal convictions and misconduct incidents, including for causing a crash after driving drunk.

“Impaired driving in particular is extremely serious and the Service has undertaken many efforts to eliminate it. As such, penalties may include reduction of rank or dismissal,” reads Hussein’s ruling, in a section where he summarizes the arguments of the police prosecutor.

In his ruling, Hussein called impaired driving “very serious.”

It’s not yet clear what implications this could have on hearings set to be heard before the tribunal in the coming weeks.

Superintendent is one of the top ranks in the police service, below deputy chief and staff superintendent.

Hussein is scheduled to appear in an Oshawa court Feb. 10.