Toronto police are upset that the civilian police board has refused to accept promotions recommended for nine officers who removed their name tags during the G20 demonstrations in Toronto last summer. The police association has filed a grievance, arguing that the nine officers had already been disciplined by losing a day’s pay, and were being punished twice for the same offence.It’s a ridiculous argument, which shows that, in the police association’s view, promotions are an absolute right that don’t have to be earned, and that refusing a promotion is a “punishment” rather than recognition that an officer hasn’t performed his or her duties in such a way as to earn the upgrade.
Police start off as fourth-class constables and move up a step at a time, with a big raise in pay at each upgrade. Usually the promotions are recommended by the chief and rubberstamped by the police board, which, according to union boss Mike McCormack, is the way it’s supposed to be.
“Through the collective agreement and past practices, if the chief recommends you go up, you go up. The chief is making decisions based on evaluations and specific criteria,” McCormack told the Toronto Star. “The board is just taking a position that they want to be the ones to judge on reclassification based on. . . criteria we don’t know.”
Garbage. There is no absolute right to a promotion in any line of work. Employees earn their way into a better job by displaying sound judgment, satisfactory work habits and appropriate behaviour. None of these were on display when 90 officers stripped off their name tags during the summit clashes, to make identification more difficult should their actions be questioned later. Since the summit, Toronto police have been working to counter the impression that they see themselves as a privileged group that can suspend normal, acceptable practices when it suits them, and count on police leaders to back them up. This is another example of that corrosive attitude at work.
Refusing a promotion is not an example of “discipline”, it’s a recognition that the employee hasn’t lived up to the required standards. You don’t get a promotion just because you show up at work every day. McCormack’s attitude also suggests he lacks respect for the oversight function of the civilian police board, or its right to ensure the force meets the expectations set for it for its employers, the city that represents voters and the tax-paying public.
According to Alok Mukherjee, chairman of the police board: “It is our view that reclassification or promotion is a reward that the board bestows on an employee in its capacity as the employer.”
Exactly. It’s time Toronto’s police union got over the idea that working as a cop is a privileged position that bestows certain inviolable rights and perquisites. It’s a job, and officers are expected to perform it to the highest standard. Trying to hide their identity so they can’t be identified when they break the rules doesn’t meet that requirement.
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