The first Black woman to serve as a superintendent at the Toronto Police Service has been demoted temporarily for helping lower-ranked Black officers cheat to advance their careers.
In a tribunal hearing decision released Wednesday, retired South Simcoe police chief Robin McElary-Downer accused Stacy Clarke of “perverting the integrity of a promotion process” and warned that there is “no room in policing for noble cause corruption.”
The veteran officer had pleaded guilty to three counts of discreditable conduct, three of breach of confidence and one of insubordination. She argued that she was trying to level a biased playing field by helping these officers.
Her demotion one rank to inspector takes effect immediately, according to police. She will be able to apply for promotion again after two years.
Insp. Clarke’s lawyer had argued for automatic reinstatement to superintendent, but Ms. McElary-Downer found the officer’s actions were “an abuse of position, and an abuse of power” that made her unsuitable for automatic elevation to such high rank.
“The gravity of misconduct was far reaching,” she wrote in her decision.
“Six very junior ranking officers now have stained employment records. Over a nine-day period, she undermined the integrity of the promotional process in a cheating scheme. She violated the trust of her colleagues. And she caused significant reputational damage to the service.”
The prosecutor in the case, lawyer Scott Hutchison, had called for a reduction to staff sergeant – down two rungs – with Insp. Clarke able to apply for promotion to her old rank after two years. He argued that her actions could have warranted dismissal but said the Toronto Police did not want this, and that the chief believed there was still work for Insp. Clarke to do.
Mr. Hutchison declined to comment when reached by phone Wednesday. Insp. Clarke’s lawyer, Joseph Markson, did not respond to phone and text messages.
Insp. Clarke had been lauded as a trailblazer when she was promoted in 2021 to superintendent, three rungs below the chief of police. She has been the No. 2 at the busy 14 Division, in the west side of downtown, and was part of the Police and Community Engagement Review project, which was aimed at enhancing public trust and bias-free policing.
When promoted to superintendent, she had been with the Toronto police for 23 years. Only 10 months later, she was trying to give a surreptitious leg-up to constables she had mentored as they sought promotion.
A statement from Chief Myron Demkiw said that Toronto police leaders “are held to the highest standards of conduct, and we take any allegations of misconduct seriously.” He acknowledged the allegations of bias raised at the hearing and said the police had enacted various reforms.
“Hiring and promotional processes were overhauled and our work force is diversifying at all ranks,” he wrote.
According to her admission, Insp. Clarke had become frustrated with the slow pace of reform. When she had a private moment with interview questions that would be posed to six people she had been mentoring, she photographed them. She later sent them to the constables. According to the decision, they had not asked her to do so.
Insp. Clarke used an application on her phone that had an automatic-delete feature to send the messages. She subsequently asked one of the constables to delete evidence of her message at his end.
She also helped coach one constable until two days before his interview, past a date after which they were supposed to break off contact. Insp. Clarke did not disclose their familial relationship when she sat as a panel member for his interview.