Month: November 2022

Police officer found guilty of ‘Discreditable Conduct’ for Freedom Convoy donation

Sentenced to 40 hours loss of pay and ‘Restorative Justice’

Ottawa Police will stage only one private ‘Restorative Justice’ session for Constable Kristina Neilson – who will meet with ‘affected community members’ as part of her punishment for donating $55 to the Freedom Convoy.

In an email to the author, Professional Standards Unit head Inspector Hugh O’Toole wrote:

“One session with the officer and some affected community members. Standard principles of restorative justice apply. A private matter that is closed to media and the public.”

Insider Reports were Correct: One Private ‘Restorative Justice’ Session

As we last reported on October 25, 2022 in our article ‘Insiders: Ottawa Police have a Problem… How to stage Constable Kristina Neilson’s Public Apology Sessions‘…

Ottawa Police Constable Kristina Neilson pleaded guilty to a charge of ‘Discreditable Conduct’ for donating $55 dollars to the Freedom Convoy. Part of the sentence is that Neilson attend ‘Restorative Justice’ where she will confess and apologize to the people of Ottawa – who will explain to her how she harmed them.

Also on October 25, 2022, we reported…

“According to police sources the Professional Standards Section wants to carefully select the audience for a single ‘Restorative Justice’ session that would be via invitation only.”

So our insider information was correct.

When the sentence was first announced, many members of the public who supported Constable Neilson condemned what they referred to as a ‘show trial’, and said that public ‘restorative justice’ sessions were designed to humiliate the officer and offer a deterrence to other police who supported the Charter of Rights and Canadians’ right to disagree with government.

One of our readers contributed an article ‘Calling Constable Neilson’s Sentence ‘Restorative Justice’ is Mocking and taking advantage of our First Nations‘, in which she said…

“We have family who escaped Communism – a struggle session is exactly what this is.

I feel immense guilt that we avoided the heavy cost that so many others paid. They sacrificed on our behalf – including Ottawa Police Constable Kristina Neilson. Please let her know that she has our support.

For those who orchestrated this show trial, I hope you’re able to feel that sense of fear in the pit of your belly, and sickness in your stomach because your conscience is yelling at you. They’re trying to set you straight, and you’d be advised to listen to them. Calling this ‘Restorative Justice’ is mocking and taking advantage of our First Nations, and you should be ashamed of yourselves for attempting this. I highly doubt our First Nations people would recognize this as bearing any resemblance to ‘restorative justice’. But our Chinese-born citizens who came here in the 60’s would certainly recognize this for exactly what it is.”

Carefully Staged Restorative Justice Session is by Invitation Only

No doubt the ‘affected community members’ invited to Constable Neilson’s private session will NOT include any of the thousands and thousands of Ottawa residents who support her or the Freedom Convoy.

That’s the whole idea of making the session private and by invitation only. That’s fine… Canadians know the truth about the staging of the session.

Professional Standards is a Soul-wrenching Duty for Police Officers

As a former Toronto Police Sergeant Detective who was heavily involved in investigations against corrupt police officers, Crown prosecutors, politicians, and judges… I am well aware of how difficult and soul-wrenching a duty it is.

I will never forget when I was at 52 Division Plainclothes having to obtain a search warrant against a fellow squad member. Three of us attended at his home on a Saturday morning while his children were watching cartoons and his wife was baking bread in the kitchen. We arrested our colleague and searched the home from top to bottom.

It couldn’t wait because what we were searching for (and found) would have disappeared.

Such is the reality when good police officers decide that their duty requires them to hunt down corrupt colleagues.

But then… Politics

I have no doubt that the charge against Constable Kristina Neilson was heavily influenced by politics. Certainly the recent testimony at the Public Order Emergency Commission confirms that government response to the Freedom Convoy at all levels and the use of the Emergencies Act was driven by politics – not by genuine necessity or law.

Ottawa Police Transparency

The Ottawa Police have recently been broadcasting internal disciplinary hearings over the Internet. This allows Canadians to attend and know about police disciplinary hearings first hand – uncensored by the legacy media.

I am not sure who is responsible for this new transparency, but it is reasonable to assume that Professional Standards Inspector Hugh O’Toole has much to do with the initiative. No longer will police charge and judge their own outside of public scrutiny.

I will write more on this subject in the future, but for now I want to make it clear that I believe the Ottawa Police are sincerely attempting to provide increased transparency and accountability to Canadians insofar as internal disciplinary hearings are concerned.

NYPD Detective Frank Serpico praised Ottawa Police

Legendary New York Police Detective and Medal of Honor recipient Frank Serpico praised the Ottawa Police Service for publicly broadcasting the disciplinary hearing against Detective Helen Grus.

(Detective Grus faces internal Police Act charges for conducting “unauthorized” investigations into the sudden deaths of nine infants – where she sought to know the vaccine status of the mothers.)

We reported on this in our article ‘Famed NYPD Detective Frank Serpico: Helen Grus case “Breakthrough in Police Transparency”

Ottawa Police abandoning video-broadcasting of Internal Trials?

In our courts and tribunals the implementation of Zoom and other video-conferencing technologies was a result of the ‘pandemic’ – but the many benefits of the technology (including increased transparency) are now proven.

I was recently disappointed to find that some of the new Ottawa Police disciplinary hearings are not scheduled for public broadcast.

When police are investigating, charging, and judging themselves – Canadians deserve the genuine transparency that video-broadcasting brings to the process.

Hopefully the Ottawa Police are not returning to the old ways where ‘public transparency’ of internal trials was limited to whether or not a reporter knew about the matter, was available to attend, took an interest, and had an editor who would publish the story. Such a system leaves much room for doubt and cannot truly be called ‘transparent’.

Donald Best

November 13, 2022