About 90 cops will be docked a day's pay for illegally removing their nametags during the G20 crackdown in Toronto. Toronto police chief Bill Blair said that the officers removed their badges so that they couldn't be identified. This is part of a general pattern of illegal behavior during the Toronto G20, including arrests for violating a nonexitent law, extended detention in cuffs without adequate heating or toilet facilities, misleading press statements about seized weapons, and arresting a protestor who was blowing soap-bubbles.
Many of the people who confronted police over the tumultuous three-days of protests that closed down Toronto's core said officers were not wearing badge numbers or name tags on their uniforms - allegations that were bolstered by photographs in the media. "I have a rule in the Toronto Police Service, it's my rule, it's in accordance with the policy of my police services board, that our officers will wear their names displayed on their uniforms," Chief Blair told the committee.
Faced with numerous complaints, the force launched an investigation and pored over 22,000 hours of closed-circuit videotape to identify "approximately 90" officers who were not wearing their name tags, said the Chief.
"Disciplinary processes have been initiated," he said. When asked what kind of punishment would be handed out, Chief Blair said that has yet to be determined "but the discussion, I believe, is the loss of a day's pay." That would amount to about $300 for a first-class constable.
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