Video of TTC officers’ brawl puts training practices into question

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Videos of a pair of TTC transit enforcement officers raining blows on two men they are trying to arrest are raising questions about the appropriate use of force – and shining a light on the complicated rules in place.

The incident took place at Union Station two months ago but became public only this week as the videos started to circulate. The footage sparked outrage and prompted the Toronto Transit Commission to take the officers off active duty and call in police to investigate.

TTC chief executive Andy Byford stressed that the two widely circulated videos did not show the whole picture.

But Councillor Josh Colle, the head of the TTC board, said it was hard to understand how the officers' behaviour could be considered acceptable.

"You have a greater responsibility when you have certain powers and you're in uniform and you have that role. And for that reason I find it hard to fathom what context could make that acceptable," he said. "On first blush and first watch, it was very disturbing and I would say it's unacceptable behaviour."

The footage starts with one officer trying to detain a man who was part of a small group. The officer is heard repeating, "You're under arrest – what don't you understand?" Another voice is heard saying, "Everyone's recording this, don't be an idiot."

The situation degenerates quickly into a fracas involving two officers and members of the public, with at least 10 punches thrown at the head of one man.

The lawyer for Jamie Gillman, 33, the man punched repeatedly in the head, said the officer's conduct on the video was clearly unacceptable.

"I defy any person experienced in the law enforcement field to explain what I'll describe as the overhand rights thrown by the burly officer while my client is defenceless, pinned against the wall, his head against the wall, posing no threat to anybody and certainly not to the burly officer who approaches, inserts himself into the scene and pummels my client," Bruce Daley said.

According to the TTC, the incident began with an unprovoked attack on one of the officers by Russell Gillman, 63, that a transit source said involved a punch. The cellphone videos circulating publicly do not show this, but it is on the station's closed-circuit footage, the transit agency says.

"My client, it is his position that he did nothing to warrant criminal charges being laid," said Lisa White, the lawyer for Russell Gillman. "So we're looking forward to defending the matter in court."

Each man is facing a single charge of uttering death threats. The younger man is also facing two counts of assault and the older man one count.

David Hyde, a security and risk management specialist, at David Hyde & Associates, said the footage immediately raises red flags.

"Striking to the face is something that wouldn't be in the typical training manual as a tactic you would go to, unless you were in imminent danger of injury or incapacitation," he said. "There's nothing that I'm seeing [in the videos] that's leading me to believe that that type of use of force was justifiable in this case."

The incident has led to new scrutiny of the training and policies of the transit enforcement unit.

Councillor Gord Perks called the January incident "a small taste" of the security-personnel issues he has often warned about.

"The lack of oversight and accountability is a serious, serious problem," he said. "And until that problem is sorted out, they should not be putting those people onto the transit system."

Security personnel on the TTC include both fare inspectors and transit enforcement officers. Some of the latter group are designated as special constables, which allows them greater latitude to make an arrest. The two officers in the videos were not special constables at the time of the incident – though one has since had his status upgraded – and had no more right to make an arrest than any citizen.

According to the federal government, a citizen making an arrest can use "as much force as is necessary," provided they are acting on "reasonable grounds."

Transit enforcement officers are trained to what the TTC calls "the police standard" for use of force. Police can use "soft physical control," such as an armlock, in response to someone refusing to heed instructions. A punch to the head would constitute a "hard" police tactic and would be appropriate only if the person had moved past "active resistance" to "assaultive."