‘It was my tipping point:’ Police superintendent testifies years of systemic racism led to cheating scandal

A high-ranking Toronto police officer at the centre of a cheating scandal says she was pushed to her tipping point when she decided to help racialized candidates cheat during promotional exams.

Under cross-examination at her disciplinary hearing on Thursday, Supt. Stacy Clarke said she was trying to “level the playing field” in explaining her actions which she said stemmed from years of lived systemic racism.

“I felt invisible. I felt I was not supposed to be advocating, not for Black members,” Clarke said, expressing her frustration as she advocated for Black officers before their promotional interviews. “It was my tipping point.”

“A product of years of experience with systemic racism, systemic unfairness and specifically what Black members have felt …the rush of everything that occurred, in that moment I became overborne,” she said, describing what led up to her decision to text confidential interview questions to candidates she was mentoring.

“My intention was to just help these officers, and level the playing field.”

Clarke, the first Black woman to hold the rank of superintendent in the service’s history, pleaded guilty to seven counts under the Police Services Act, including three counts each of breach of confidence and discreditable conduct.

As a member of promotional interview panels in 2021, Clarke said she took pictures of questions and answer rubrics and sent them to six of her mentees who were seeking promotions to sergeant. She also met with one of her mentees over three days at her home where she held a mock interview and posed questions sometimes stripped word-for-word from those asked during panels the previous week.

Shortly before Clarke’s misconduct, the Toronto Police Service was expected to adopt a new policy that involved providing everyone with the questions in advance. It’s unclear why that procedure was never put into practice.

Witnesses this week have testified that the promotion process was clearly biased with only 1.7 per cent of Black candidates who had been put up for promotion actually succeeding.

Clarke’s supporters believe she is being unfairly targeted because she is a Black woman.

“This is peanuts to the crimes that police officers do on a daily basis, but the high command has never taken any action against them,” said Kingsley Gilliam of the Black Action Defense Committee.

Clarke is unlikely to be fired over the incident with police officials suggesting she be demoted two ranks, and then work her way back to superintendent in two years. Clarke’s lawyer has argued she should be reinstated to the rank of superintendent after one year.

The hearing is expected to wrap up on Friday.