Toronto police officer vows to fully cooperate with investigation into Zameer case

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A Toronto police officer who witnessed her partner being hit by a car says she will cooperate with an outside investigation that was called after a judge criticized testimony she and two others gave at Umar Zameer’s trial.

Mr. Zameer was acquitted last weekend by a jury that rejected the Crown’s argument that he had deliberately struck officer Jeffrey Northrup in an underground parking garage in 2021. In her instructions to jurors, Superior Court Judge Ontario’s Anne Molloy warned them to consider whether the three police witnesses colluded in a common narrative. After the verdict, Judge Molloy apologized to Zameer for his ordeal.

Sergeant Lisa Forbes, Constable Northrup’s partner, issued a statement through her lawyer Wednesday saying she will comply with the Ontario Provincial Police’s external investigation. Toronto’s police chief called for the investigation as a result of Judge Molloy’s comments.

“Despite the deep wound that the announced review keeps open, Lisa welcomes the review and will cooperate fully with it,” attorney David Butt said in a text message.

“No one who has not experienced a similar tragedy can imagine how devastating it is to lose a dear colleague.”

He declined to comment further.

Zameer had been accused of killing Officer Northrup with a pickup truck during a collision on July 1, 2021. He told the court that he panicked when plainclothes police officers suddenly rushed in, surrounded his car and ordered him to get out. Video evidence supported Mr. Zameer’s account that he quickly reversed the car to escape him and did not see Officer Northrup knocked to the ground before continuing forward.

Sergeant. Forbes and two other officers testified during the trial that they remembered seeing Officer Northrup standing and waving his arms before he was hit, but two collision reconstruction experts, including the prosecution, testified that it did not happen that way.

After the verdict, Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw said he shared “the sentiments of our members who were hoping for a different outcome.”

After a storm of controversy, the chief said he never intended to publicly question the criminal justice system.

In Ontario, a new Community Policing and Safety Act, which came into effect on April 1, includes a revised Police Code of Conduct. The code threatens sanctions against any police officer or police commander who “deceives or misleads any person” or “interferes with the administration of justice.”

Chief Demkiw also announced that he had asked the Ontario Provincial Police to investigate the judge’s “adverse comments” about the Toronto Police, including “with respect to officers’ testimony.”

Neither representative of the other two officers who testified responded to interview requests.

The union representing rank-and-file officers in Canada’s largest municipal police force says it will stand behind all officers.

“The Toronto Police Association continues to provide support to all members involved in the trial and/or those who have been deeply impacted by Jeff’s death,” said union president Jon Reid.

In an emailed statement from his office, Reid said misremembering “is a human weakness we all experience,” but cheating is a police Code of Conduct offense.

He said that this is not a new measure.

“The previous Code of Conduct included the crime of deception, defined as ‘intentionally or negligently making a false, misleading or inaccurate statement relating to official duties,’” he said.