High-ranking Toronto cop demoted for 2 years after helping mentees cheat in promotion

A high-ranking Toronto police officer will be demoted for two years after admitting she helped her mentees cheat in a promotional interview process that she was involved in.

Stacy Clarke, the first Black woman to hold the rank of superintendent in the service’s history, will go down one rank to inspector for 24 months, after which she can reapply for her previous rank.

In handing down the sentence at a police disciplinary tribunal hearing, hearing officer Robin McElary-Downer said that while Clarke did not personally gain from her misconduct, she violated the public’s trust, abused her power, and betrayed six junior officers by leading them into a “scheme of cheating” that marred their professional records.

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Clarke pleaded guilty before the disciplinary tribunal last fall to seven counts under the Police Services Act, including three counts each of breach of confidence and discreditable conduct.

An agreed statement of facts heard at the time of her plea said that Clarke was sitting on promotional interview panels in 2021 when she took pictures of questions and answer rubrics and sent them to six of her mentees who were seeking promotions to sergeant.

It said she also met with one mentee who was a close family friend over three days at her home, which included conducting a mock interview, but then did not disclose a conflict of interest when she sat on that officer’s promotional interview panel.