All city police Neglect of Duty charges dismissed
Wednesday, January 04, 2012 by: SooToday.com Staff
CITY POLICE
NEWS RELEASE
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At a Police Services Act hearing today by teleconference, Hearing Officer Terry Kelly found no evidence to support Neglect of Duty charges against four (4) Sault Ste. Marie Police officers in a complex fatal motor vehicle collision involving pedestrian, Matthew Howard.
In his decision, Hearing Officer Kelly stated: “Given the comments by the Service Prosecutor and having carefully studied the totality of the evidence placed before me, I did not find any basis for any misconduct on the part of these four officers. It is my opinion that no negligence was shown by any of the officers investigating this very tragic accident. The evidence clearly shows that all the officers involved followed all the proper procedures and were not found to have deviated from Service protocol. In the circumstances, they behaved with courtesy and compassion.”
“Therefore, this case is dismissed and I find Inspector Art Pluss, Badge #205; Sergeant Joseph Trudeau, Badge #216; Constable Darren Sirie, Badge #277; and Constable William Freeman, Badge #255; not guilty of the charges.
The only other matter remaining before the tribunal is one count of Discreditable Conduct contrary to Ontario Regulation 286/10, Code of Conduct section 2(1)(a)(xi) against Sergeant J. Trudeau of the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service.
This charge is put over to Friday, February 3, 2012 at 8:00 a.m. to be dealt with by a teleconference hearing.
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TFinn 1/4/2012 10:13:52 AM ReportAnd so it goes ..!!
JUSTANOTHERNAME 1/4/2012 10:17:01 AM ReportCourtsey and compassion for who? It certainly wasn't for Matts family or his girlfriend. Must have been for good ole' Joey boy after all they were in his corner as stated by them!!!
Sam C 1/4/2012 10:20:27 AM ReportIt would be nice if the nay-sayers could accept the findings of the independent adjudicator.
JustMe1234567 1/4/2012 10:36:43 AM ReportSam, does that mean you are "in their corner" ?
If the remaining charge is also dismissed I will be ashamed to be a Saultite.
Who allows a car to be 'driven' by other police and not towed from the scene of a deadly accident??
My 10 year old would logic out that the car should have been towed to preserve evidence.
shame. shame.
JUSTANOTHERNAME 1/4/2012 10:55:19 AM ReportFine Sam they did their job according to a third party investigation, but these statements of "commending the officers" and "they used compassion" are obviously offending to many people involved in or following this story. If they had used some compassion with the victims family perhaps this investigation would not have happened, but the treatment of the family has outraged them and their supporters.
epc 1/4/2012 11:34:29 AM ReportThe charges may have been dismissed , but the stink will linger.
Right or wrong this can not be undone.
My thoughts and prayers are with the Howard family. I hope they can find peace and comfort.
waterpolo 1/4/2012 11:41:59 AM ReportI sure hope all these officers sleep well in knowing that they did everything they were professionally required to do during their investigation in to the death of an innocent young man. I admit that I do not know the required proceedure or protocol in an investigation such as this but if in this case the officers were following official protocol then the protocol needs to change. Come on....someone was killed in the early morning hours by a driver who admitted being at a bar and who also had been using a phone at the time...these are the facts.......
Dixiepup 1/4/2012 11:48:19 AM ReportOk, we established the accused is already a liar, (i.e. claimed at work, when he was not), and he is a known relative of a member of police dept.
He was also advised that the police were in his corner.
Once again, the whole thing is a big stinkaroo on the whole department. Two sets of rules are in place in this city!!
My sympathy to the Howard family through all of this.
Bad Dawg 1/4/2012 12:27:57 PM ReportNo basis..... isn't there a statment of them telling the driver they were on his side?? or did that not make it into the file... what a crime!This what my nine year old said after watching the news "we need to get better police these ones suck"
Organizme solutions 1/4/2012 12:28:28 PM ReportDespicable!
A grave injustice to the victim and the communinity. I can't believe it! I am ashamed of our Justice System... and especially the way the tribunal has dealt with these facts.
67Tanger 1/4/2012 1:26:19 PM ReportSeargent Trudeau seems to be involved in quite a few cover ups. I did contact Mrs Nesbit (Matts mom)and provided her with info regarding my experience with him. Even if he is found guilty, he will be a martyr amongst his fellow officers.
When is the corruption going to stop and we can again have respect for our local police force.
Maybe we need a new police chief...one who is not afraid to slap a few wrists when required.
Sorry Mrs Nesbit....Justice did not prevail in this tragic unnecessary death.
Bad Dawg 1/4/2012 1:36:41 PM Reportwhat a joke..... it is not the first time a name has helped someone in this community. But it is a shame that this was a criminal matter and now the wrong doer is Matt. RIP Matt Howard and our prayers to your family in this truely toughest of times.
Nunavut 1/4/2012 1:39:32 PM ReportWhen a tragic death occurs , these days everyone has to blame someone, instead of realizing that accidents do happen.
An independent decision showed all was done properly. Maybe in order to protect the family of the deceased they are not airing the possiblities of the victim being drunk and stumbling into traffic, or maybe it was just horseplay running in and out of ditch onto road , or maybe the girlfriend should take some responsibility for walking her boyfriend home so that he does not weave into traffic. All things that might or might not have happened and will never be known.
Rachel01 1/4/2012 1:44:34 PM ReportWow our system is just as corrupt as our American neighbors. Quite pathetic letting a killer go free without a checking his alcohol level knowing he was at a bar. Gee sure wished i was related to a cop !!!
Pluto 1/4/2012 2:11:48 PM Reportwhy is it? We as citizens should have already known the outcome of this, the city police are never ever in the wrong!! It disgusts me!!
Bad Dawg 1/4/2012 2:12:47 PM ReportNunavat...... why even say he stumbled into traffic?? Matt got run over by a DRUNK no matter where he was walking. I really hope you don't have to go through something like this to see the light. And not all police law abiding and trustworthy.
.... Matt got drunk and didn't drive. Biocchi (???) drank and DROVE. Driving down queen rounding the corner he saw something and before his drunk mind realized it was a person...... it was too late. It is a fact when driving look where you want to go, so if it takes you longer to focus the more time your body has to naturally drive into it.
And for you to drag his girl into this shows how big of a narrowminded sheep you really are!! BAAAA BAAAA
Thim 1/4/2012 2:54:51 PM ReportFact is, if these officers were conducting a drinking and driving operation simply the fellow saying he'd been at a bar and had a drink would have necessitated a breath test.
teancrumpets 1/4/2012 3:05:58 PM ReportEventually everyone gets their own....it's called karma. It may not happen a year from now or 10 years from now but it will. I don't know how you sleep at night Biocchi or how you still drive the same vehicle you killed Mr. Howard with. That in itself is a disturbing fact.
JustMe1234567 1/4/2012 3:09:50 PM ReportThere is zero evidence Matt was drunk, in fact everyone that was with him that night - said he wasn't! It is all on record.
Don't blame the victim!
And I'm not even sure the driver was drunk, we WILL NEVER KNOW NOW! That is what is so sad about this whole mess!
He could have been distracted by his phone... or fell asleep, who knows!?!
Only he truly knows.
Sorry Howard family. So very sorry.
Lmg1950 1/4/2012 3:41:11 PM ReportSam C, still trying to be a wanna be. Thank goodness you didn't make it, that's all we need is another one in the "Good Ole Boys Club".
winterdown 1/4/2012 3:52:48 PM ReportI wonder how many of the readers have been called out in the middle of the night to examine a tragedy of this magnitude. The sad truth is that the tragedy has already occurred and is irreparable. Casting blame on everyone else and picking at an investigation will not resolve this but destroy the lives of our police force that go above and beyond every day of their lives. Most people take for granted the sacrifice that our law enforcers make to keep us safe. They make huge sacrifices when called out on duty after a few hours of rest, working on holidays and maybe missing Christmas with their children and families. People should be ashamed to be enthralled with the sensationalism of such a terrible accident and criticising a strong group of people who let us all sleep at night!
JustMe1234567 1/4/2012 4:08:22 PM ReportI agree that police do a good service most of the time, but I don't think this was a professional investigation up to the standards us citizens expect.
Just ask Matt's Mom who felt she and her family were not treated right and the memory of her son was not treated fairly.
AND
Matt Howard will never get to sleep in his bed again. Ever.
danno2257 1/4/2012 5:19:08 PM ReportSAM.C Terrance Kelly is a retired police chief or ex cop at the very least what kind of a disisin would you expect.
Thim 1/4/2012 5:56:14 PM ReportThis was truly an unfortunate situation with two peoples lives clashing with disastorous results.
That said a lot of anger is spilling out against the police in particular on the way they handled things, had they done their job and given the driver a test for alcohol based on the fact they knew he'd been at a bar and had a drink things would have been different, if he'd admitted the same thing at a roadside stop they would've had to. Couple their inaction here with other things and we've suspicions and accusations galore
Norm 1/4/2012 6:08:10 PM ReportSam, give it a rest, you're pro- police, which is allright to a point. There are some good police officers, and as we see from the Howard case, there are some who are not. You seem like a decent sort of person, not stupid, just terribly naive. Bottom line is a family has been totally devastated over this young man's death, and the poor handling of this police investagation.
Norm 1/4/2012 6:27:11 PM ReportI don't think a new chief would make a lot of difference.
Bad Dawg 1/4/2012 6:47:44 PM ReportI don't understand how he can drive the same car..... had a buddy hurt himself on my dirtbike and never drove it again. Because of the guilt I felt when he broke his back. I bet it is still rotting out on the farm..... shows just what kind of person he is and how he feels about it.
karma will prevail against the ones who think they are getting away with something.
danno2257 1/4/2012 6:50:24 PM ReportNorm police making judgment on other police will never work no matter what officer or rank,the system is obviously corrupt
67Tanger 1/4/2012 7:06:03 PM ReportYou are right saying there are good officers on our police force....and I know for a fact, some of these officers would like to speak out. If they did....their jobs(careers) would be in jeopardy and they would be blackballed from the brotherhood. You see this scenario in the movies but this is reality right here in our own community.
danno2257 1/4/2012 9:14:35 PM Reportyes there are many good ones who have to be quiet or else and some are ashamed of this I suspect.
Rachel01 1/4/2012 11:14:59 PM Reportjust a complete injustice to our entire community...let's hope karma true !!!
tWISTED lOGIC 1/4/2012 11:57:41 PM ReportThe kid who was killed was drunk. He had just come up from the ditch where he had just gone for a wiz. It was dark and foggy and he stumbled into the middle of the road. By the time the driver knew he was there, it was too late.
The driver wasn't intoxicated. The police had no legal reason to give him a breath test. The police did thier job.
That's it. End of story. It's sad and it's a sorry waste of a kids life but that's the truth. He was drunk and he was careless.
Bad Dawg 1/5/2012 1:00:29 AM Reportwow twisted.... are you a cop, or you have a relation to the police. You seem to know "as a matter of fact" that Matt was drunk. Do you have some sort of evidence that he was (if not I suggest you take a long look in the miiror from the other side of the tragedy. I saw a video of the driver stagger, who admitted he had been drinking and he was the careless one. A perestrian gets hit it is careless driver error. like if you hit a kid chasing a ball. They have been teaching this since I took drivers ed in the 80's. So if don't mind "the grown-ups are talking"
danno2257 1/5/2012 10:57:47 AM Reporttwisted your brain is lost and mind is twisted.
Lmg1950 1/5/2012 12:34:56 PM ReportFrom 67 Tanger
You are right saying there are good officers on our police force....and I know for a fact, some of these officers would like to speak out. If they did....their jobs(careers) would be in jeopardy and they would be blackballed from the brotherhood. You see this scenario in the movies but this is reality right here in our own community.
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Where is Serpico when you need him?
Voiceofreason 1/6/2012 6:20:24 PM Reporttwisted, way to sing it out. People just can't accept that sometimes the victim of an incident is at fault.
danno2257 1/7/2012 12:40:48 PM Reportvoice get the blinders off,are u in the dark or just can't see or maybe pro cop.wake up take the blinders off.
Note: Comments that appear on the site are not the opinion of SooToday.com. Keep discussions civil and on topic. Refrain from obscenity and don't post anything that your grandmother would be ashamed to read. Those who do not abide by these guidelines will have their membership revoked without notice. If you see an abusive post, please click the link beside the post to report it.
