A Toronto police officer has been docked 20 days’ pay after he attempted to cross the U.S border into Canada with a cache of weapons, including an unlicensed handgun and a prohibited knife.
According to a judgement at a police tribunal last month, the officer was attempting to cross the Canadian border at the Fort Erie Peace Bridge in October, 2014 when CBSA agents decided to conduct a secondary inspection of his vehicle.
During the search, the agents found pepper spray, an expandable baton, seven knives, brass knuckles, a pair of handcuffs and a loaded .38 calibre Colt Cobra firearm that the officer did not possess a licence for.
At that point the officer, who was off-duty and travelling in his personal vehicle, was arrested.
The ruling from the tribunal states that once in custody the officer then informed agents that additional weapons were stored at his residence. That prompted police to execute a search warrant at the address. During the course of that search warrant police found a .22 calibre rifle and a 9mm Smith and Weston pistol that were registered to the officer but that he did not have “currently valid licenses” for.
Following the execution of that search warrant, the officer was charged with a number of offences under both the Criminal Code of Canada and the Customs Act.
The officer then pled guilty to two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon without a licence and was given a three-year probation term along with a conditional discharge. As part of a joint submission, the Crown also agreed to not pursue the other charges against the officer.
Following the resolution of the criminal case against him, the officer was charged with two counts of discreditable conduct by a Toronto Police Service tribunal.
In his ruling in that case, tribunal officer Gord Jones noted that the officer has “demonstrated his remorse” and recognized the seriousness of his offence by apologizing to the service and entering guilty pleas to both the criminal and disciplinary charges against him.
Jones, however, stated that the offences that the officer pled guilty to are a “great concern” to the entire police service and should not be taken lightly.
“The service has prioritized its commitment to providing safe communities and neighbourhoods and has dedicated significant resources to reduce firearm-related offence. Incidents of this nature result in injury and death which devastate our communities and impact on officer safety. This is compounded when a police officer is involved in a firearm-related criminal offence which is of significant concern to our service and our communities and has a negative impact on the efforts to eliminate gun violence,” he wrote.
In delivering his judgement, Jones stated that the potential for rehabilitation must be a “key factor” in what penalty is given.
On that note, the hearing officer pointed out that the officer, Const. Anthony DaCosta, has a relatively clean disciplinary record and is a well-regarded member of the TPS.
“Constable DaCosta has twelve positive entries in his personal file and his appraisals reflect an officer who consistently meets or exceeds the performance standards and is viewed as a valued and productive member of the service,” Jones wrote. “I will consider this as a mitigating factor and I am convinced that the potential for rehabilitation and a continued successful career for Constable DaCosta is within his reach and I am confident that he will not be before the Tribunal again.”
Both the prosecutor and the defence in the tribunal hearing submitted a joint-proposal at the tribunal hearing asking that DaCosta be docked 20 days’ pay.
