Clayton Ruby takes police agency to court for "closing the file" on substantiated G20 complaints

TORONTO, Nov. 5, 2012 /CNW/ - The Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD) is an independent agency responsible for making sure that public complaints against the police are dealt with fairly.  It has failed in this responsibility.  Two complaints arising from the G20 have been shut down solely because of the OIPRD's own investigative delay!

The first complaint alleged that officers of the Toronto Police Service and York Regional Police Service illegally searched a protester's bag before he was allowed to enter a public park.  The second complaint alleged that officers of the Peel Regional Police Service grabbed a protester who was curled up in a ball on the ground and threw her southward on Spadina Ave.  The OIPRD found that both complaints were substantiated.

Despite this, the OIPRD directed all of the police forces involved to not proceed with hearings into the complaints because the OIPRD's own investigation had taken longer than six months!  The police forces followed this direction and "closed the file" on these complaints.

These decisions violated the Police Services Act.  Clayton Ruby has been retained to challenge the decisions in Superior Court by way of Certiorari, and this case has the full support of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA).

Please attend a press conference to explain the legal challenge at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, November 5, 2012 at Ruby Shiller Chan Hasan, Barristers located at 11 Prince Arthur Avenue in Toronto.  Clayton Ruby, Nathalie Des Rosiers (from the CCLA), and one of the complainants, Luke Stewart, will be in attendance.

SOURCE: Clayton Ruby

please contact Mr. Ruby's assistant, Mandy Machin, at 416.964.9664