Impact of Hamilton officers arrests could be far reaching

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The impact of the recent arrests of Hamilton Police officers could go far beyond the officers themselves.

Five Hamilton police action team officers have been charged for allegedly writing 32 fake tickets. That named 18 people who had no idea they were victims. Police Chief Glenn De Caire says the service will do everything it can to make sure those people are not negatively affected. “All 32 tickets will be withdrawn in the proper and appropriate court process.”

The tickets were logged with the courts and counted as police statistics but were never handed out. Hamilton police won’t say what the tickets were for because they’re now evidence. Questions have been raised whether the pressure to issue tickets – or meet possible ticket “quotas” – may have something to do with it. When asked about it Chief De Caire said this: “We set high expectations of performance in this organization and we will continue to do so. We are responsible for the safety of the public and that is done through many mechanisms within the Hamilton police service through prevention and education but enforcement is a big part of that.”

“When it comes to tickets, it’s a performance measurement tool” says Hamilton Police Association President Clint Twolan. “They work very hard every day and this casts a shadow on each and every one of us and that’s troubling…it’s frustrating.”

Particularly for officers who follow the rules. The arrests could also impact the integrity of these officers cases, compromising cases that are currently before the courts and for those that have already happened there could be appeals filed because of this.