Does A Police Officer Have to Show Up For Court?

Does A Police Officer Have to Show Up For Court?

Today, in my continuing saga of addressing Police Myths, I will be answering the question “does a police officer have to show up for court?” Although it is well known that officers sometimes do not show up for traffic court, Simon Says: Yes, they do have to attend court!

Attending all levels of court to give evidence in both criminal and provincial offence matters is one of the duties of a police officer. Section 42 (1) (e) of the Police Service Act lists one of an officer’s duties as “laying charges and participating in prosecutions” (that means showing up for court).  Usually, this duty is also spelled out explicitly in the police service’s policies and procedures and if so there can be consequences for officers who don’t attend court as required.

So why do officers occasionally not show up for traffic court? Most people have heard of someone who went to court to fight a traffic ticket, was told the officer wasn’t there, and had the ticket withdrawn.

The reason for this is usually that the officer got tied up dealing with something on the road and was not able to finish it in time to get to court. Officers start their shifts early in the morning (usually 7:00 am), which gives them plenty of time to get involved in something by the time court is scheduled to start (usually 9:30 or 10:00 am). Due to the nature of situations an officer deals with on the road, they can’t always just stop what they’re doing to go to court.

The other most common reason is that the officer is on holidays or sick.

In either case, without the officer to give evidence, the crown prosecutor likely has no reasonable prospect of obtaining a conviction, which leaves them with two choices. They can either bring a motion to adjourn the matter to a latter date or withdraw the charges. Which option they choose depends on a number of factor, primarily the seriousness of the offence. In criminal court, the crown will always bring a motion to adjourn, and it will probably be granted by the Judge. In provincial offences court it is far more likely that the crown will withdraw, especially if there are civilian witnesses who would be inconvenienced by having to return on another date.

The important thing to remember about this myth is that it is not up to the officer’s discretion whether they will attend court. Regardless of what they have said when issuing a ticket or what impression they left you with, they must attend court unless they are physically unable to do so.

 

About the author: Simon Borys is a former police officer who is currently studying law at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario to become a criminal lawyer.

Tags: Court, Myth, Officer, Police

Posted in Police Myths

8 Responses to “Does A Police Officer Have to Show Up For Court?”

• Brad says:

  August 5, 2010 at 10:27 pm

  Perhaps it was the old way that the officer didn’t show up for court? Until it was well known defendants had their tickets canceled, could this be why it is mandatory the officer now has to show up to court?

  Reply
  • simonborys says:

    August 5, 2010 at 10:52 pm

    Could be…I haven’t been around long enough to say from personal experience

    Reply
• Vlad says:

  August 6, 2010 at 12:29 pm

  Very interesting, thanks. Judging by my personal experience I was under the impression that not only they don’t have to show up in court but most of them don’t even care to do so. I’ve seen dozens of (mostly speeding) charges stayed due to the the officer not being present in court. Way more often than “occasional”, as your article suggests.I’d like to know what kind of consequences an officer will suffer for not appearing in court. I’d also love to see what kind of excuses are acceptable and how, if at all, are they verified by superior officers. It would also be interesting to see how does an hour spent in court stack up against an hour spent on other police officer’s duties in terms of convenience, ease and pay.I’ll dare to speculate that many officers assigned to speed trap and other “random taxation” duties are fed up enough for having to do that kind of work and are only too happy to avoid the added hassle of sitting in court. Others, like Const. Michael Thompson (http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/603380) who “earned” $161,892.35 a year by racking up overtime in court are happy to use the system. Hopefully, former are a majority.Bottom line: Myth it may be, but it’s just as good as truth in real life..

  Reply
  • simonborys says:

    August 10, 2010 at 12:40 pm

    Thanks for the comments Vlad.The truth is that as staffing shortages on the front line increase, officers are becoming busier and busier and it is becoming more and more common that they miss court dates due to getting tied up on the road. Dispatchers are usually aware of the officers court schedule for the day and they try to avoid sending them to calls unless necessary, so if the officer is on a call that is, in my experience, always sufficient reason to justify not attending court.Attending court certainly makes for an easier morning (or day) than “humping calls” (police expression) on the road, so there’s an additional incentive to attend court. That is, of course, for court that is scheduled on the officers regular day shift. Some services do it this way to minimize the amount of overtime payed out. In contrast, some services schedule traffic court on days off to minimize the amount of time an officer is working not on the road. For criminal court court dates are scheduled around lawyers and judges schedules. Toronto is, I believe, one of those services which attempts to schedule court on officer’s days off, which is how Cst. Thompson was able to make $161,000. Also he probably writes a lot of unreduced speeding tickets If an officer does fail to attend court, the consequences could range (in order of escalation) from being spoken to by a supervisor, to being negatively documented in their file, to being charged under the Police Service Act with Neglect of Duty.

    Reply
    • Vlad says:

      August 10, 2010 at 1:39 pm

      Thanks for the additional details Simon. I appreciate learning how the system works so I can assert my rights to the fullest extent if need be. Speaking of rights, have you thought of putting together a Canadian equivalent of http://flexyourrights.com or a similar “how to” type of blog? It seems to me that you’d be a good candidate to provide an unbiased and informed view from at least two out of three sides of that coin…

      Reply
      • simonborys says:

        August 10, 2010 at 4:30 pm

        Thanks for the link Vlad. I was not aware of this site, but I look forward to checking it out!

        Reply
• ljh says:

  August 11, 2010 at 1:06 pm

  Simon, if a police officer retires or is terminated from his department does he/she have to attend any previously scheduled court appearances?

  Reply
  • simonborys says:

    August 11, 2010 at 1:11 pm

    Good question! Yes, they do. There is usually something in the service’s Court Attendance policy that instructs an officer retiring to advise the crown of all their pending matters. For minor matters like traffic offences, they usually just withdraw the ticket, but for criminal matters you can be assured that he officer will continue to attend.

    Reply