The Toronto Police Department’s first black female chief inspector has been demoted for two years following a scandal in which she helped other black members of the force cheat on a promotion process.
Constable Stacy Clarke, a 26-year veteran of the force, was sentenced Wednesday during a hearing at Toronto’s downtown police court.
She will now serve as an inspector, a rank lower than her old position, officials said. She will also have to reapply for the rank of superintendent after 24 months, after she pleaded guilty last year to professional misconduct.
Clarke said she wanted to take time outside the agency’s headquarters to discuss the decision with her 17-year-old daughter and 15-year-old son.
She rose to the post in 2020 after serving in the agency’s homicide and divisional police units, and was the focus of an investigation after she provided confidential information to six Black officers before their promotional interviews.
Officer Stacy Clarke, a 22-year veteran of the force, was sentenced Wednesday during a hearing at the Toronto Police Court in downtown Toronto. She is seen here leaving Toronto Police headquarters
She will now serve as an inspector, a rank below her old position, officials said. She will have to reapply for the superintendent rank after 24 months, after she pleaded guilty to misconduct last year. Clarke became the first Black woman to rise to the post in 2020
“It is what it is,” the newly minted inspector told reporters outside the police station after pleading guilty in September. “I’m just very disappointed, I’m very sad about it.”
She admitted she regrets leaking interview questions and answers to the six Black officers she mentored for the 2021 promotions.
This follows a hearing this spring in which she insisted she acted out of desperation to counter what she called “systemic anti-Black racism” and asked for clemency.
The local black community, meanwhile, indicated that they were also following the case.
“The community will be deeply disappointed and offended if Superintendent Stacy Clarke is disproportionately punished for her actions,” wrote one observer who attended the May hearing online.
“It will certainly be seen as a direct result of systemic racism that is deeply ingrained in policing, and it will undeniably impact the relationship between police and the Black community in Canada,” they said.
Disciplinary hearing officer Robin McElary-Downer told the veteran officer at the time: “I apologise in advance, Supt. Clarke,” she said. “I know this is a heavy burden for you.”
On Wednesday, in delivering the court’s decision, McElary-Downer called the stripped-down superintendent’s actions “foul play,” while citing some of violations.
“It is what it is,” the newly minted lieutenant told reporters outside the police station after she asked for clemency in May over claims she tried to circumvent “systemic racism” within the department. “I’m just very disappointed, I’m very sad about it.”
This included photographing interview questions and answers and sending them to the six mentees, whose names are unknown.
Clarke also told one of the officers to delete photos and conducted mock interviews to coach the officers, McElary-Downer said.
“Clearly, with a high rank comes a higher expectation of flawless conduct,” the Ontario police officer said.
“The nature of Supt. Clarke’s misconduct undoubtedly shook the trust and confidence the public had in her, and more broadly in the Toronto Police Service.”
Speaking about how she came to this decision, she said: ‘I felt that there was sufficient and tangible evidence before me that [Clarke’s] actions amply illustrated the abuse of position and power.
“This makes her an unsuitable candidate to be automatically reinstated to the rank of superintendent,” she said.
‘Supt. Clarke will have to reapply later.’
“If that happens, I really hope she will demonstrate that she is ready to assume the rank of superintendent.”
While an appeal has not yet been ruled out, the decision puts an end to the scandal that has dogged Clarke’s meteoric rise within the department over the past two decades
While an appeal has not yet been ruled out, the decision puts an end to the scandal that saw Clarke’s meteoric rise within the department, after serving in the community response unit, the youth bureau and the intelligence service in the early 2000s.
She then spent several years working in the police department’s homicide unit and auxiliary police division before transferring to the Toronto Police College in 2008.
Clarke was subsequently promoted to sergeant in the 13th Division of TPS in 2010 and transferred to the 22nd Division two years later.
There she worked in the first-line emergency service and the detective bureau, before being promoted to staff sergeant in 2016 and becoming head of the learning development and standards department at the police academy.
During this time she also worked on the Police and Community Review (PACER) project, which examined how the TPS could improve its image and increase public confidence and safety.
In 2018, she reached the rank of inspector, a position she will hold again for the next two years.
In 2018, she reached the rank of inspector, a position she will now hold again for the next two years.
Officials say it is not certain she will return to her old position afterward, calling her actions “unwanted publicity” and “irreparable damage” to the Toronto Police Service.
Clarke’s defence had previously argued that Clarke should be demoted to inspector for a year to 18 months before being automatically reinstated. However, this request was not granted.
Officials confirmed she will have the opportunity to appeal the decision in the coming days.