Dot and Paul Pang filed a complaint against 海角社区官网police officer Timothy Somers over his offensive social media postings, which they allege may have tainted an investigation.
Dot and Paul Pang filed a complaint against 海角社区官网police officer Timothy Somers over his offensive social media postings, which they allege may have tainted an investigation.
A 海角社区官网police officer who was facing a disciplinary hearing stemming from a public complaint about offensive social media posts 鈥 including calling Black Lives Matter a 鈥渉ate group鈥 鈥 has instead ended by undisclosed 鈥渁lternative means.鈥
海角社区官网police Constable Timothy Somers, in a photo posted to his personal Facebook page.
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Const. Timothy Somers made a brief virtual appearance at the 海角社区官网police tribunal Tuesday, at which the tribunal was told the complainants in the case had not responded to prosecution attempts to reach them and that a sole charge of discreditable conduct was being withdrawn.
The tribunal is where 鈥渟erious鈥 police disciplinary matters are dealt with.
Instead, the tribunal was told the case was 鈥渞esolved through alternative means,鈥 typically meaning that an officer has been disciplined at their unit level, the details of which are not usually made public.
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Complainants Dot and Paul Pang alleged in a complaint that Somers鈥 Facebook posts from his personal account in 2020 tainted his role in an investigation into a racially-charged landlord-tenant dispute they were involved in, dating back to 2011.
In their complaint, filed to the since-renamed Office of the Independent Police Review Director, the Pangs alleged their landlord and fellow tenants used police to go after the Chinese-Canadian couple. The Pangs alleged they were the targets of racism from other tenants for, among other things, 鈥渟peaking Chinese,鈥 and the landlord got police involved, which included Somers.聽
Police documents obtained by the Pangs showed them being portrayed by police as instigators, when they say they were the victims.
海角社区官网police were 鈥渦sed鈥 to go after a Chinese Canadian couple embroiled in a dispute over alleged anti-Asian racism in a Rosedale apartment
In 2020, following the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, the Pangs came across Facebook posts on Somers鈥 account that they found 鈥渙ffensive with overt tones of racial animus.鈥
Screenshots of Somers鈥 posts show Somers describing Black Lives Matter as a 鈥渉ate group that must be eliminated by the government鈥 and that 鈥減olice are not a threat to black lives, black people are a threat to each other!鈥
In another post, he shared content with his headline calling for a 鈥淲HITE STRIKE 鈥 POLICE HAVE HAD ENOUGH!鈥 In another, he wrote that the 鈥減erception of racism is a myth.鈥 He also attacked the CBC, CTV, Global and other media for 鈥渞einforcing a racially motivated narrative that is not representative of the vast majority of people!鈥
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The posts, since deleted, left the Pangs with 鈥渟erious concerns with how police 鈥 have dealt with cases involving us,鈥 they wrote in their complaint, arguing an 鈥渦nderlying racial bias鈥 may have affected Somers鈥 judgment in their case.
The Pangs are still worried about how police perceive them, based on lingering statements police made about them in police records, including unsupported notations about their mental health. Somers had not even met the Pangs in the course of the investigation.
In an email to the Star, Dot Pang said the couple disengaged from the tribunal process after they refused to sign an undertaking on tribunal disclosure material. Given Somers鈥 social media posts as evidence, said Pang, police should have gone ahead with a public hearing without them.
As a result, said Pang, she and Paul have 鈥渓ost faith and trust鈥 in police, the complaint system, police services board and the justice system.
海角社区官网police spokesperson Stephanie Sayer said that while 鈥渨e cannot speak to the tribunal鈥 outcome, the service is 鈥渃ommitted to addressing anti-Black racism and building meaningful relationships with Black communities across the city鈥 and has taken 鈥渃oncrete steps,鈥 including diversifying hires across the ranks and enhancing anti-racism training.
That said, Sayer said, 鈥渢his work must continue. Public trust is foundational to policing, and we remain committed to learning from the community and taking action together.鈥
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Somers was facing a single misconduct charge for five social media postings, according to a police notice of hearing document, 鈥渃onsisting of pictures, comments, and links to internet content that were of a questionable and offensive nature ... In so doing, you committed misconduct in that you did act in a disorderly manner or in a manner prejudicial to discipline or likely to bring discredit upon the reputation of the 海角社区官网Police Service.鈥
The 海角社区官网Police Association, on Somers鈥 behalf, declined to comment on the withdrawal of the charge, and was 鈥渦nable to comment on any discipline that may or may not have taken place outside of the Tribunal.鈥
TPA president Clayton Campbell said in an email to the Star that the process to get to this point has been 鈥渓ong and arduous ... for everyone involved,鈥 but said it was 鈥渄ifficult, and unfair鈥 for a complainant to criticize the outcome after disengaging from the hearing process.
Jim Rankin is a Star reporter based in Toronto. Follow him on X:
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