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Police ethics

In our society, the role of the police is to maintain peace, order and safety. To fulfill these functions, the police are granted broad powers, but they also have duties and obligations. In the exercise of their duties, the police – just like judges, lawyers and accountants, for example – are expected to obey certain rules of behaviour. In Quebec, these rules are found in the Code of Ethics of Québec police officers.

In this Infosheet, Éducaloi informs you about the duties and rules of behaviour of Quebec police, and on the rights and recourses of victims of police agression.

What are the functions of the police?

The police perform the following duties, among others:

• Maintain the peace, order and security of the public;
  
• Prevent crime;
  
• Find and arrest criminals;
  
• Make criminal investigations;
  
• Apply municipal by-laws, the Highway Safety Code and other provincial or federal laws.

What are the different police agencies in Quebec?

There are several police bodies in Quebec, including:

• The Sûreté du Québec, under the authority of the ministère de la Sécurité publique, which offers a provincial police service;
  
• The municipal police that serves the territory of the municipality for which it was established. Examples include the City of Montreal police department (CMPD, SPVM in French) and the Service de police de la ville de Québec (SPVQ);
  
• Aboriginal police established by an aboriginal community, to cover the territory of the community;
  
• Special constables, such as those who work in courthouses and in the National Assembly.

All police officers who exercise their functions within these police bodies are subject to the Code of Ethics of police officers.

Note also that the traffic patrollers of the Société d’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) are also subject to the Code of Ethics of police officers.

A police officer on duty insulted me because I am not from the same ethnic origin as him. Does the Code of Ethics protect me from this kind of behaviour?

Yes. The Code of Ethics demands that a police officer behave in a way that preserves the confidence and respect required by his position. That is to say, a police officer must not:

• Use obscene, blasphemous or insulting language (for example: insulting someone, swearing, etc.);
  
• Act or make statements based on race, colour, sex, sexual orientation, religion, political convictions, language, age, social condition, disability, etc.;
  
• Treat a person impolitely or without respect;
  
• Forget or refuse to identify herself with an official document when a person asks her to do so;
  
• Forget to wear a prescribed identification mark (a badge, insignia, uniform, etc.) in her direct relations with members of the public;
  
• Abuse her authority in her relations with the public (threats, harassment, use of unnecessary force, etc.);
  
• Disobey the law (for example, illegal arrest or detention).

Does a police officer on duty who abuses his authority violate the Code?

Yes. A police officer who abuses his authority commits an act which is against the Code of Ethics of police officers.

For example, a police officer commits an abuse of authority when he arrests and detains an individual who has not committed an offence.

To avoid all forms of abuse of authority, the Code of Ethics forbids police officers from doing the following things:

• Using more force than is necessary;
  
• Making threats, intimidating or harassing people;
  
• Intentionally accusing another person without justification;
  
• Abusing his authority in order to obtain a statement or admission;
  
• Detaining a person who is not under arrest for purposes of interrogation.

There are many other forbidden acts which concern investigations, handling of firearms, detention, searches, etc. To learn more about these, you can consult the Code of Ethics of Québec police officers.

What are my recourses if I believe that a police officer has broken the Code of Ethics?

When a person believes that a police officer has treated him in a way that goes against the Code of Ethics, he can make a complaint directly to the office of the Comité de déontologie policière  (http://www.deontologie-policiere.gouv.qc.ca/index.php?id=75&L=1) or at any police station. The complaint must be in writing. The person has to submit it no later than one year after either the event itself, or after the person learned of the event upon which the complaint is based.

For example, Julie was insulted by a police officer on December 2, 2003. She has until December 2, 2004 to file a complaint with the office of the Comité.

If the person complaining asks them, the members of the staff of the office of the Comité must help the person write the complaint and even help him to identify the evidence needed to back it up.

Any person can complain to the office of the Comité de déontologie policière.

This organization receives and examines complaints and tries to bring parties to an understanding together. As needed, it investigates and may make the police officer appear before the Comité de déontologie policière, which is an administrative tribunal.

The services of the Comité de déontologie policière are free.

Under what circumstances is a complaint accepted by the Office of the Commissioner?

For a complaint to be dealt with, it must:

• Be submitted within the time limit (one year);
  
• Concern a police officer in the exercise of his duties;
  
• Allege a violation of the Code of Ethics of Québec police officers.

If these conditions are not met, the complaint is rejected. Despite this rejection, it is possible for the person who complains to have the decision reviewed.

If the Comité decides to handle the complaint, a conciliator is chosen who receives the file. Except in the case of a refusal, all complaints are submitted to conciliation.

In the case where a complaint concerns a serious violation, for example a physical injury or the death of a person, the conciliation step will not take place, and the complaint will be directly submitted to the Comité de déontologie. However, even in this case, if the parties wish to go to conciliation, they can.

What is the conciliation process?

Any complaint against a police officer is submitted to the conciliation (mediation) process. The Commissioner has the power to order conciliation even if the police officer was fired, quit or retired after the events at issue occurred. The complainant can refuse to participate in conciliation. Still, if the reasons for refusing are not valid, the Commissioner can reject the complaint.

During the conciliation process, the complainant and the police officer are invited to meet in the presence of a conciliator with the goal of finding a solution that will satisfy both parties. They can express their points of view freely. The complainant and the police officer can bring any person he chooses with him to the conciliation. The complainant doesn’t have to have a lawyer, but this is allowed. During conciliation, the lawyer can intervene, but the mediator will generally encourage the complainant and the police officer to express themselves.

If the person complaining qualifies for legal aid, this still won’t pay for the lawyer’s fees involved in conciliation because this process is not covered by legal aid. Also important is the fact that the conciliator must not be a police officer, or even a former police officer.

Can what a police officer or complainant says during conciliation be used as evidence later on?

The answers or statements made during a conciliation meeting – whether by the complainant or the officer – cannot be used as evidence in criminal, civil or administrative proceedings later on.

A settlement in conciliation is not an admission of guilt, neither for the complainant nor for the police officer.

What happens at the end of conciliation?

The conciliation procedure is meant to resolve the complaint that has been made. For conciliation to work, the complainant and the police officer must agree on a way to resolve the problem complained of.

If the parties come to an agreement, there is a settlement of the complaint. The settlement made in conciliation must be written down, approved by the Commissioner and signed by both the complainant and the police officer involved.

If, on the other hand, the parties don’t come to an agreement, the conciliation process fails. The Commissioner can then choose to make an investigation into the reasons behind the complaint.

If the Commissioner decides to investigate the complaint, what happens?

Remember that, in general, the Commissioner only investigates complaints that haven’t been rejected and that were not resolved through conciliation.

If the Commissioner decides to investigate the complaint, he chooses a person to act as investigator. The investigation is meant to determine if there is enough evidence to hold a hearing about the complaint before the Comité de déontologie policière. The police officer and the complainant are notified of the progress of the investigation.

If the investigation finds that the complaint was justified, the Commissioner calls the police officer before the Comité de déontologie policière to answer to the complaint. If the investigation report doesn’t confirm the validity of the complaint, the complaint is rejected. Sometimes the Commissioner can send the investigation report to the Attorney General – especially in cases where there may be criminal charges laid against the police officer.

The Commissioner notifies the complainant of his decision without delay, as well as the police officer and the director of the policing body. If he rejects the complaint, he must give them his reasons and send along a summary of the investigation report. He also informs the complainant of his right to have this decision reviewed by the Comité de déontologie policière.

What happens if the police officer is sanctioned before the Commission?

The Commission is the tribunal in charge of deciding if a police officer has violated the Code of Ethics or not. The Commission is made up of lawyers hired full-time by the government, for a maximum period of five years.

When the Commissioner accuses a police officer, the Commission holds a hearing to determine if the accusations against the officer are justified or not. The hearing is presided over by one member of the Commission alone, who acts like a judge.

The police officer can be represented by a lawyer. The complainant (the person complaining) is not a party – he is a witness. This means he neither needs nor is entitled to the services of a lawyer: the Commissioner coordinates the proceedings against the police officer. Each party, the Commissioner and the police officer alike, calls witnesses that they believe should be heard. The Comité de déontologie policière must allow the police officer to be heard and to present a full answer and defence to the complaints.

The hearings of the Comité are public, and anyone who wants to can attend.

After considering the evidence, the Comité decides whether the behaviour of the police officer conformed to the Code of Ethics. The decision of the Comité can be appealed at the Court of Québec.

What are the sanctions for a police officer who doesn’t respect the Code of Ethics of Québec police officers?

When the Commission comes to the conclusion that a fault was committed, it must impose one of the following sanctions on the officer:

• Warning;
  
• Reprimand;
  
• Suspension without pay for a period of up to 60 business days;
  
• Demotion;
  
• Discharge (firing).

For example: the Commission comes to the conclusion that agent Sauvé used unnecessary force when for no reason he used pepper spray on a person who was just walking in the street. Agent Sauvé is suspended without pay for 20 days.

When the police officer is no longer in service at the time the sanction is imposed (for example, if he is retired), the Commission can declare him unable to exercise his functions as a peace officer for a maximum period of 5 years.