Tag: Ottawa Police Service

Public Online Hearing for Ottawa Police Officer Kristina Neilson – Thursday Sept 29th

Officer charged with donating $50 to ‘Freedom Convoy’

Rumour of Plea Deal

Online Hearing Thursday Sept 29, 2022 – 9:30am

Suspended Ottawa Constable Kristina Neilson will make her second appearance before an internal hearing on Thursday, September 29, 2022, at 9:30am. The hearing will be broadcast to the public via Teams videoconferencing. (Public link posted below.)

Neilson was charged with ‘discreditable conduct’ after the criminal theft of donor Identity Information* from the Christian website ‘GiveSendGo’.

Toronto Star and CBC reporters provided Neilson’s Identity Information to the Ottawa Police, along with the names of about 25 other officers after combing the list of over 100,000 donors in the stolen data files.

Ottawa Police served Constable Neilson with a ‘Notice of Increased Penalty’ – meaning that the organization wants to fire her – effectively destroying her career and preventing future employment with other law enforcement agencies.

Ottawa Chief of Police Steve Bell took a hard line against Freedom Convoy protestors even after they left Ottawa – vowing to “actively look to identify you and follow up with financial sanctions and criminal charges, absolutely. …for months to come.”

Rumoured Plea Deal

Unconfirmed rumours are circulating in the Ottawa Police community that at her hearing on Thursday, Constable Neilson might plead guilty to the internal charges in a deal to keep her job.

Few individual Canadians – including police officers – are able to stand against the crushing power of the state. Each of us faces different circumstances with mortgages, families, health concerns, elderly parents, and so many other challenges.

The Ottawa Police will find that wielding such blunt power to force a ‘guilty plea’ over a $50 donation is a hollow victory that further estranges police from ordinary Canadians.

Millions of Canadians coast to coast cheered the convoys on their journeys to Ottawa – and many of those Canadians including myself find the charges against Constable Neilson and other police personnel to be reprehensible.

I don’t know if Canadian police can ever recover from the destruction of public support they brought about through their robotic obedience to politicians and their brutal enforcement of lockdowns and mandates.

Our minds will forever see replays of police handcuffing visibly pregnant mothers behind their backs and dragging them away as their children screamed – for the crimes of playing in a park, not wearing a facemask outdoors, watching hockey while unvaxed, or trying to purchase a sandwich.

Canadians now know what our government police are capable of when they no longer serve the Charter, the Law, or the Rule of Law.

Canadian Bank Accounts Seized Without Court Orders

The ability of Canadian police to impose punitive financial sanctions against citizens – without charges, without court process – was unheard of in our history…

…until the Federal Government and police distributed names of protestors and supporters to banks and other financial institutions in Canada and ordered them to seize citizens’ accounts and assets.

Acting without court orders, due process, or any sort of legal proceedings, Canadian banks followed government and police instructions and seized hundreds of citizen bank accounts containing a total of about $8 million dollars.

The Government of Canada effectively weaponized the police and financial system against its political opponents – destroying lives and businesses for donating as little as $50 dollars.

The punishment continues for many Canadians who had their personal and business bank accounts, mortgages, loans, and credit cards cancelled. Some have been financially destroyed without any court process or legal recourse…

Chief Bell said the police would impose punitive financial sanctions even without any charges laid, and he did so in direct support of the sitting politicians who form the government of the day. Again these financial seizures were with no charges laid, no court orders, and without due process or any legal proceeding at all.

At this point in time, it is not known if the Federal Government instructed Neilson’s bank to seize her money and assets as was done to many other Canadians. My sources state that some Ottawa Police personnel did have their bank accounts frozen, but I am unaware of the names of the officers and / or civilian staff.

Neilson Hearing Broadcast Information

Thursday, September 29, 2022 – 9:30am

Microsoft Teams meeting

Join on your computer, mobile app or room device

Click here to join the meeting

Meeting ID: 241 243 777 546
Passcode: 5SiZdy

Download Teams | Join on the web

Or call in (audio only)

+1 343-803-4734,,672965693# Canada, Ottawa-Hull

Phone Conference ID: 672 965 693#

Find a local number

 

* Identity Information – Criminal Code of Canada

The Criminal Code of Canada specifically defines ‘Identity Information’ and makes it a Criminal Offence to obtain or possess a person’s Identity Information not just for illegal purposes – but while being ‘reckless’ as to whether the information could be used illegally.

Definition of identity information

402.1 For the purposes of sections 402.2 and 403, identity information means any information — including biological or physiological information — of a type that is commonly used alone or in combination with other information to identify or purport to identify an individual, including a fingerprint, voice print, retina image, iris image, DNA profile, name, address, date of birth, written signature, electronic signature, digital signature, user name, credit card number, debit card number, financial institution account number, passport number, Social Insurance Number, health insurance number, driver’s licence number or password.

Trafficking in identity information

(2) Everyone commits an offence who transmits, makes available, distributes, sells or offers for sale another person’s identity information, or has it in their possession for any of those purposes, knowing that or being reckless as to whether the information will be used to commit an indictable offence that includes fraud, deceit or falsehood as an element of the offence.

Famed NYPD Detective Frank Serpico: Helen Grus Case “breakthrough in Police transparency”

NYPD Detective Frank Serpico following case of Ottawa Police Detective Helen Grus

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

On September 9, 2022, Frank Serpico posted on his Twitter account that the public broadcasting of the Detective Grus Internal Hearing was a “breakthrough in Police transparency.”

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.

Public Invited to View Online Hearing Thursday, September 15, 2022

The next hearing date for Detective Grus is Thursday, September 15, 2022 at 1pm. The public is invited to watch online. (The links to the video and audio broadcast appear at the end of this article.)

Frank Serpico has been following the Detective Grus case since at least August 26, 2022 when he first posted a link to a one-hour broadcast by First Freedoms Foundation lawyer Barry Bussey in conversation with Donald Best.

During that interview, Donald Best stated…

“This Detective Grus case is going to be far more important, and garner far more public interest than the Ottawa Police ever thought possible… Thousands and thousands of people have seen the articles I’ve written. (Many) contacted me and discussed it. And that’s from all over the world. Because this is a police officer whose investigation has been shut down.”

(Former Toronto Police Sergeant Detective Donald Best)

The transcript and link to the Bussey – Best video can be found here:

Barry Bussey Interviews Donald Best About Ottawa Police Detective Helen Grus

New York Police Detective Frank Serpico

Retired NYPD Detective Frank Serpico rose to fame with his whistleblowing on widespread police corruption in 1970. His testimony before the Knapp Commission resulted many indictments against corrupt New York police officers. He also testified in court to convict corrupt police officers.

In 1971, Detective Serpico was shot in face during a drug raid that had the hallmarks of a set-up by corrupt cops as revenge for his testifying against fellow officers.

A best-selling biography by author Peter Maas (Serpico, The Valachi Papers, King of the Gypsies, Underboss) brought Serpico’s story of police corruption to the world. In 1973 actor Al Pacino – fresh off his success in The Godfather – played the role Serpico in the award-winning movie of the same name.

At 86 years of age, Frank Serpico continues his decades of activism – speaking out about civil liberties, police brutality and corruption.

Detective Serpico inspired an entire generation of young police officers to stand against corruption and was probably single-handedly responsible for the end of general ‘beat collections’ in New York City and throughout North America – including in Toronto, Canada where I was sworn as a Police Constable in 1975.

An overview of the Helen Grus case can be found in our previous article here…

Worldwide Interest in Ottawa Police Detective’s Sudden Infant Death Investigations

 

Online Access to the September 15, 2022 1pm Helen Grus Hearing

The hearing will be conducted using MicroSoft Teams software – so be sure to start early to download the videoconferencing program if it is not already installed on your computer.

There is also an audio-only feed available for those who wish to call into the hearing. (See below)

The Helen Grus hearing is scheduled for September 15, 2022 at 1 pm.

Click here to join the meeting [teams.microsoft.com]

Meeting ID: 243 524 493 109

Passcode: iq8eQ8

Download Teams [microsoft.com] | Join on the web [microsoft.com]

Or call in (audio only)

+1 343-803-4734    (Canada, Ottawa-Hull)

Phone Conference ID: 612 496 313#

For any problems, please contact Ottawa Police Service Media Relations via email…

[email protected]

Valarie Findlay: Wolves, Sheep and the Inconvenience of Sheep Dogs

“As source in a media story this past summer, I was aware of the rough road ahead: A sworn officer had revealed information on an active undercover operation targeting a long-time municipal politician for bribery.”  …Valarie Findlay

Show me how to lie,

You’re getting better all the time.
And turning all against the one

Its an art that’s hard to teach.
Another clever word

Sets off an unsuspecting herd.
And as you step back into line,

The mob jumps to their feet.

by Valarie Findlay

Where fact and perspective meet, our personal values churn both of these, binding them into what we believe to be right and fair. Beyond common law and more than moral platitudes, these complex, emotional judgments help us to separate the ‘good guys’ from the bad, the law-abiding from the law-breaking and those who pull ‘sheep’s clothing’ over their wolf-like intentions, as they stride into the light of public interest.

It’s not uncommon for the public to be dazzled by sleight of hand that leaves us doubting our intuitions, even in the face of facts – it happens all of the time. The unknowing – or those not wanting to know – are transformed into complicit shills, bit players in the theatrics of the corrupt. Everyone knows that following the crowd is easier than standing up, or worse, standing alone.

Not a fan of acting on a single vector of information, balancing the material and immaterial with historical actions or patterns and intuition is critical. These are the pillars of anecdote, facts and the pathology of behaviours. The simplicity of when someone shows themselves to you, believe them is not lost on me, but it is rarely enough to grind the gears of public opinion.

(Above LiveLeak video: Ottawa Police Association President Matt Skof talking about Chairman of the Ottawa Police Service Board and alleging, quiet clearly, that Eli El-Chantiry is involved in Organized Crime. Note: none of his allegations have yet been proven true.)

Ottawa Police Association President Matt Skof first denies, then admits secret recordings are of him

As source in a media story this past summer, I was aware of the rough road ahead: A sworn officer had revealed information on an active undercover operation targeting a long-time municipal politician for bribery. The local politician was Ottawa Police Services Board Chair, Eli El-Chantiry. The ‘officer’ was Ottawa Police Association president, and former Ottawa Police Services (OPS) sergeant, Matt Skof. The receiving party was me.

Matt Skof Ottawa Police Association President

When Matt informed me that El-Chantiry was the target of a bribery play, I had no intention of acting on the information. But that changed when I was told the operation was disbanded without cause, charges nor explanation and that emails existed between El-Chantiry, his secretary and others coordinating the bribe.

The only statement I will make with regard to Matt with any certainty is that he grossly misjudged my principles. Under no circumstances would I hide serious assertions that an elected official was involved in criminal activities and that the investigation stood up on that information was seemingly quashed.

As the information was socialized by others, it was not exactly a shock to a tight circle of cops and myself. For three years, I had been the conduit for many sources of testimony and material evidence on El-Chantiry’s conduct – and then I had my own. I had no reason to doubt Matt’s accuracy, truth and veracity of the information. In instances prior to this, any information shared on El-Chantiry and others was corroborated by those who were directly involved. Matt, in my opinion, acted in good faith, as I did.

Over the months that followed, much was underemphasized that would have lent context.

Firstly, the information provided by Matt was not coerced, as some have suggested. It also occurred over several months with increasing detail and cohesion. To that and on the matter of why the calls were recorded, this was an automatic function on the cell phone that Matt often called me on; calls made to my other numbers were not recorded.

There was no grand entrapment scheme and there was no personal benefit to me. The recordings were all but forgotten, until it was indicated to me that the operation was apparently “buried” – keeping in mind, this operation was executed and funded in a way that kept it shielded from the executive.

“I am one hundred percent convinced that Eli El-Chantiry is full out involved in organized crime, no doubt…”  Ottawa Police Association President Matt Skof talks about Ottawa Police Service Board Chair Mr. Eli El-Chantiry.

Secondly, there was no manipulation or misrepresentation of the recordings, as claimed by Matt. The original files’ were substantiated and verified by a number of factors: time/date stamps, call logs showing phone numbers and length of calls and correlation of information from the conversations to material elements, such as emails. The integrity of the audio files was maintained and verified as such.

Eli ElChantiry, Chair Ottawa Police Services Board

Many asked why Matt would share such sensitive information with me. Obviously, I know why, but this is a question for Skof to answer, not me. From our many conversations over the years on El-Chantiry’s conduct, I can presume he was dually disgusted and overjoyed that this may signal the end of El-Chantiry’s fourteen year reign as Ottawa-Ward 5 Councillor and nearly ten years on the Ottawa Police Services Board.

Additionally, many have asked whether Matt and I had a “romantic” relationship. We did not – it was not romantic in the slightest. Others shifted the focus to his error in judgement, and in some cases, mine. To this, I will vigorously state that on the face of the information and its serious implications, the necessity for the matter to be independently investigated is crucial. I stand by that one-hundred percent. Read more

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