Two Montreal police officers have been suspended without pay for the way they treated a homeless man on a freezing cold winter day last year.
Constables Pierre-Luc Gauthier and Vincent Marcotte are being disciplined by the police ethics committee after a ruling determined that the first officer abused his authority and the second officer should have intervened.
They are also being disciplined for violating the police ethics code.
Const. Gauthier was suspended for two days without pay, and his partner Marcotte suspended for one day as a result of their behaviour, which created public outrage when it came to light.
The incident occurred last Jan. 2 at Jean-Talon metro station.
Officer Gauthier was speaking to a man who appeared to be homeless and have a mental health problem. He was wearing only a t-shirt and shorts in -25 degree Celsius weather.
Const. Gauthier was caught on video by a passerby threatening to tie the man to a utility pole, while officer Marcotte watched and laughed from inside their police car.
The police ethics committee ruled Gauthier's comments were disrespectful and intimidating and that Marcotte should have told his partner to do the right thing.
Activists who work with the homeless said the ruling sends an important message.
“The police officers were punished for the situation and that's important because we need an example. There are other situations especially with homeless people, marginalized people, said Bernard St-Jacques of RAPSIM, a support network for people who are aloneand homeless in Montreal.
During the hearing last spring, both officers said they had offered to drive the man home and to have him wait in the warmth of their vehicle, but that the man had refused.
Still, they left the scene, and left the man there alone in the cold.
This is the first time the Montreal police officers have been cited for breaching ethics.
