Cop threatened to Taser prisoners
Cop threatened to Taser prisoners
Here we go again.
A Toronto cop’s threat to Taser suspects’ testicles was condemned as “disgraceful, unacceptable and shocking” Monday by a Toronto Police spokesman.
The video, released by a Justice Hugh Fraser, shows Const. Christopher Hominuk profanely vowing to Taser two handcuffed prisoners in the rear of police cruisers on May 24, 2010.
“This officer’s actions are disgraceful, completely unacceptable and shocking,” said police spokesman Mark Pugash. “One of the reasons we had these in-car cameras installed was the protection of both officers and the public. “We could identify the frivolous complaints and the serious ones as we did in this case and followed it up with an investigation by professional standards, which led to this charge,” added Pugash.
Hominuk, 37, pleaded guilty last Monday to one count of threatening bodily harm in the west Toronto incident. He’ll be sentenced in June and has been suspended with pay since he was charged last June.
An in-cruiser video camera caught Hominuk slapping Robert James Bolgan, 47, in the face and ordering him to lie down on the backseat. Court heard that Hominuk insisted Bolgan reveal the identity of a missing suspect. Bolgan answered that he didn’t know.
“If you are lying to me, when I get you back at the station, I’m Tasering you in the f---ing nuts,” Hominuk snarled at Bolgan.
Hominuk then confronted a second suspect, Roger William Bradshaw, 39, who was lying in a nearby cruiser’s backseat. The 14-year officer pressed his Taser into Bradshaw’s neck and reiterated his demand for the fugitive’s identity. Hominuk then threatened to Taser him in the genitals if he was lying.
Paul Burstein, president of the Criminal Lawyers’ Association, said the case “demonstrates the need of having an objective and complete record such as a video or audio recording of encounters between the police and the public. “This strongly supports expanding the use of these technologies,” said Burstein.
The veteran criminal defence lawyer said this case also shows the dangers of expanding the availability of Tasers for officers in Toronto. Pugash said Toronto’s fleet of 400 prisoner-carrying cruisers are almost all equipped with in-cruiser cameras. The last three divisions’ cars will be functioning with cameras by the end of July 2011.
Pugash said Toronto’s use of Taser regulations are among the toughest in Canada and were praised by a judicial inquiry on the RCMP-Tasering death of Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver International Airport in 2007.
