Senior Toronto police officer found guilty of misconduct and neglect of duty

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A senior Toronto police officer has been found guilty of professional misconduct and neglect of duty after a disciplinary hearing determined she interfered with an investigation into a single-vehicle crash involving her nephew more than two years ago.

Inspector Joyce Schertzer, a high-profile former homicide detective who was part of the criminal probe of former mayor Rob Ford, was accused of contravening the force’s conflict-of-interest policy and preventing investigators from determining if alcohol was a factor in the May 1, 2022, collision.

The tribunal hearing officer, retired Ontario Provincial Police superintendent Lisa Taylor, said Insp. Schertzer inserted herself into the investigation and showed consistent “errors in judgment” as a superior officer responding to a call involving a family member – including failing to contact 9-1-1, letting her nephew leave after less than 10 minutes and allowing another officer to turn off his camera so they could have a private conversation.

“I find a fully informed citizen would be shocked at the actions and inactions of Insp. Schertzer,” Ms. Taylor said in her decision. “I cannot fathom why the camera wouldn’t have been left on.”

Insp. Schertzer pleaded not guilty to all charges, and insisted she didn’t try to influence the investigation into her nephew’s crash. She was found guilty of one count of discreditable conduct and another count of neglect of duty, but not guilty of a third count of neglect of duty.

Throughout the ordeal, Insp. Schertzer has defended her decision to involve herself in the crash. In an interview with a Toronto police professional standards interviewer in 2022, she said, “I wasn’t trying to circumvent anything. I wasn’t trying to influence anyone. It’s very important to me that you know that I have never, in my life, neglected duty.”

The adjudicator rejected Insp. Schertzer’s claim she was merely trying to advocate for her nephew as his aunt and not in any official capacity – saying her presence at the crash scene, as a senior officer, was a serious conflict of interest that would have influenced the actions of more junior constables.

Shortly after the crash, Insp. Schertzer’s daughter, who is also a police officer, called and told her that the inspector’s nephew, Calvin Dejak, had been in an accident. The inspector arranged for an officer from her unit to be dispatched, despite the crash having occurred in the catchment area for the neighbouring 14 Division – which prosecutor Scott Hutchison said circumvented the police’s priority system, to the benefit of her family. By the time an officer had arrived, Insp. Schertzer was already there, the tribunal heard, and Mr. Dejak was initially permitted to leave the scene. Insp. Schertzer told the hearing in June that she believed the Boulevard Club was within her division’s boundaries at the time.

When Toronto police traffic investigators demanded that he return to the accident scene, Mr. Dejak was confronted by Constable Michael Clarke, who told Mr. Dejak, in an exchange captured on his body camera, “you’re very fortunate that you have family members who have helped this go away,” the tribunal heard.

Mr. Dejak, who crashed into a city-owned utility pole shortly before noon outside the Boulevard Club on Lake Shore Boulevard, had left his truck at the social club the previous evening because he’d been drinking, according to the evidence presented at the hearing. But he told the responding officer he’d only parked at the social club that morning to “go for a walk,” the tribunal heard.

Ms. Taylor, the adjudicator, emphasized that while Mr. Dejak’s statement may not have been honest, his actions were not the reason for the disciplinary hearing.

At the scene, Insp. Schertzer became actively involved in the investigation, and had a private conversation with the investigating officer – after which her nephew was advised he could leave, before any breath test could be administered, the tribunal heard. Staff Sergeant Matthew Routh, Const. Clarke’s superior, told the tribunal in June that Insp. Schertzer’s involvement deeply concerned him.

“In 25 years of policing, I’ve never seen an officer leave a division to go to another division to do a collision investigation,” he said. “This is the only time I’ve ever seen that happen. It’s just non-existent. That was enough to tell me that, okay, to some extent, there is obstruction here.”

The tribunal will hand down its penalty on Oct. 28. Insp. Schertzer has the right to appeal the decision to the Ontario Civilian Police Commission. Her lawyer, Joanne Mulcahy, declined to comment.