Pubdate: Sun, 03 Oct 2004 Source: Toronto Sun (CN ON) Copyright: 2004, Canoe Limited Partnership. Contact: http://www.canoe.com/NewsStand/TorontoSun/home.html Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/457 Author: Mark Bonokoski, For the Toronto Sun Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?216 (CN Police) COPS' WRONG MESSAGE By firing undercover drug cop Robert Kelly for "crossing the line" and becoming addicted to the cocaine peddled by the criminals he had put his life in danger to infiltrate, the Toronto Police Service sent out a message. But it wasn't the message which was offered by presiding trials officer, Supt. Tony Warr, that will be heard by the rank-and-file cop on the street. No, that message read more like a passage from a mission statement, long on platitudes but short on reality. 'Broken trust' "When a police officer himself disobeys the law and partakes in the very activity that he has been entrusted to combat, then he has not only broken the law, but (he has) broken that trust," Warr ruled. "The loss of public trust is the most devastating thing that can happen to a police service." What is short on platitudes but long on reality, however, was the message sent out by Kelly's lawyer, Peter Brauti, when he said that any Toronto cop with an addiction should now "run and hide in your holes . . . don't admit a thing." "(Kelly) put his life on the line for the public every day," said Brauti, indicating he would be appealing Kelly's seven-day, quit-or-be-fired order to the Ontario Civilian Commission on Police Services. "The service has used him up and thrown him away like a piece of garbage." If there ever was a harbinger for what would befall Kelly, it was the banishment last year from police headquarters of internationally-renowned Toronto forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Peter Collins, a man the force has relied heavily upon for expert guidance and opinion since 1989. His ouster, complete with the posting of his picture on a "watch notice," and his security pass being revoked, came at the heels of his psychiatric assessment of Kelly which not only said the cop's life and career was salvageable, but took the force to task for hanging him out to dry by refusing his plea to be pulled from undercover work, and then for not having a specifically-designed in-house program to deal with the stresses of undercover work. 'Issues' with doctor When that story broke here, Mark Pugash, director of corporate communications for the police, admitted that it was "not a secret" that police brass had "real issues regarding the Kelly case" when it came to Dr. Collins. He also insisted that Collins' criticisms were not the reason for the notice being posted or his pass revoked, rather it was his "unfettered" access to police facilities. One paragraph in Collins' assessment, in particular, was especially critical of the service's shortcomings. "It is important to note that the behaviour exhibited by Kelly is well recognized as being secondary to undercover work," wrote Collins. "Although he asked to be removed from this type of police work, he was not allowed to do so. If he had been removed from the drug squad, as he requested, he very likely may not have displayed the behaviour that has led him to be presently before the court. There does not appear to be an in-depth undercover stress program in the Toronto Police Service. Many major police agencies have recognized that there are potentially harmful effects to undercover work and have developed such programs." It was Dr. Collins' opinion, as well, that Kelly has been "effectively treated for his (substance abuse) illness and the accompanying stress disorder." "There is no psychiatric reason why he cannot return to police work," wrote Collins. "It goes without saying (however) that this individual should not return to the drug squad." Instead of accepting the truths within Collins' report, however, and instead of accepting a submission from the prosecutor and the defence that Kelly, a 15-year veteran with a stellar record, be allowed to remain on the job with a busted-down rank and a set of tough conditions, Supt. Warr decided it was best for the "public trust" that he be fired. Police Service failures And so a golden opportunity was missed, a chance for Chief Julian Fantino to call a press conference to admit that failures within the police service itself had played a role in a good cop's downfall, and that, as a result, the force was finally going to put an in-depth undercover stress program in place to help other officers on the cusp of derailment. That would have sent out the right message to the cops on the street today -- not one that would have them "run and hide in your holes" when the stress of the job has them "cross the line" with that fi - --- MAP posted-by: Derek