Not again. Yes, again!
Another senior police officer in the Greater Toronto Area has been criminally charged with several serious offences. The charges include:
- possessing property obtained by crime
- possessing for the purpose of trafficking
- breach of trust
- breach of trust in accessing data
- unauthorized use of a computer
- possessing a counterfeit stamp
- AND attempting to obstruct justice
Sgt. Kin Pong Wong, 44, who recently worked as a front-line patrol sergeant for the York Regional Police Service, was arrested on Oct. 23. His arrest followed an investigation by both York and Peel Regional Police.
In a news release, York Regional Police noted that Wong has been employed with the force since 2009 and that he has since been suspended with pay. (Isn’t that another descriptor for “paid vacation”? But we digress…)
Granted, Peel Police are assisting this investigation into a York copper. But given the torrent of police corruption stories of late, is anyone 100 per cent satisfied that this investigation will be fair and square? At the end of the day, this is yet again another story of police investigating other police. Isn’t this an inherent conflict of interest from the get-go?
Rebel News recently dropped by York Regional Police headquarters in Aurora, Ont., looking for answers. For starters, we experienced a feeling of déjà vu. The last time we visited headquarters was back in February, regarding the Project South investigation. This was the shocking investigation in which several members of the Toronto Police Service were charged with serious crimes ranging from bribery and drug trafficking to extortion and even conspiracy to commit murder. (Police told CP24 the charges against Wong are not related to Project South.)
Both the York and Toronto brass hosted the presser, and Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw reiterated that moving forward the cops would be committed to “transparency” and “accountability” to restore public trust.
Really?
Because when cameraman Lincoln Jay and I showed up to attend the presser, we were denied entry. We were even threatened with arrest for filming OUTSIDE police headquarters!
For starters, does that seem “transparent” and “accountable” to you? Apparently, only members of the government-funded media were allowed to attend.
Secondly, this “law” that we were allegedly breaking by filming outside a police station? There is no such law. It’s just a bogus rule that the cops use to intimidate people, and it’s completely unenforceable. So again, we must ponder: where’s the “transparency”? Where’s the “accountability”?
At the end of the day, the Wong matter boils down to yet another disturbing story of a police officer allegedly breaking the law, resulting in police policing police. And so it is that we must yet again defer to our favourite Latin phrase: Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Translation: Who guards the guardians?
