‘I’d call you up and rip your face off’: Ford’s son-in-law tells police tribunal he was belittled by superior

The premier’s son-in-law is facing 12 Police Services Act charges for discreditable conduct, breach of confidence and insubordination

This week, the premier’s son-in-law, Toronto Police Services officer Ernest “Dave” Haynes, told the force’s disciplinary tribunal that he was belittled and embarrassed by a detective sergeant who was probing a professional misconduct allegation made against him.

The incident occurred on March 11, 2024, when Haynes was questioned by a superior during an interview about Police Services Act violations the Toronto cop was alleged to have made.

Haynes is facing 12 police act charges for discreditable conduct, breach of confidence and insubordination. These charges are currently before the Toronto police’s disciplinary tribunal, a forum that handles serious breaches of the police code of conduct.

Haynes and his spouse, Krista Ford-Haynes, who is the eldest daughter of Ontario Premier Doug Ford, publicly fundraised to hire a lawyer from outside the Toronto Police Association, the city’s police union, to represent Haynes.

This week, Haynes and his lawyer are attempting to prove the Toronto Police Service abused the standard disciplinary process in its dealings with Haynes, who has worked for the force for over 20 years.

To open the March 2024 interview, Haynes’ superior, a detective sergeant who was acting as an investigator in the proceeding, listed off the cop’s alleged infractions, including an email blast Haynes sent in December 2023 to members of police Divisions 22 and 31 that criticized the state of the Toronto Police Service.

In the email, sent to hundreds of colleagues, Haynes said he felt that morale was low within the service and expressed disappointment with aspects of how the force was operating.

“Whether it is the lack of representation from [the Toronto Police Association], the lack of forward facing resources or the consistent lack of forward facing supervision to guide us there is no question these are serious challenges that need to be addressed,” he wrote.

The email blast led Haynes’ 22 Division leader, Anthony Paoletta, who is now a superintendent, to initiate an investigation as to whether the email constituted a workplace infraction. The March 2024 interview was one part of that process.

During the meeting, the detective sergeant suggested he took serious issue with “assumptions” Haynes’s email made about the force.

“If I was at 31 [Division] and I got your emails, I think I’d call you up and rip your face off,” he said, according to a transcript of the meeting recording that was entered into evidence.

On Wednesday, Haynes said he was stunned by the remark. “I felt extremely embarrassed — intimidated,” he said.

His comments came during a cross-examination as part of the abuse of process motion, which seeks the dismissal of the charges.

In her dismissal motion, Haynes’ lawyer, Bath-Shéba van den Berg, has argued the charges are a form of retaliation by the TPS for Haynes having raised operational concerns.

“The charges were brought against Staff Sgt Haynes in effort to prevent him from speaking out about the problems he was facing and the broader resource and training issues within TPS,” the motion alleges.

“The disciplinary proceedings are frivolous, vexatious and commenced in bad faith.”

During testimony on Thursday, Paoletta said he triggered the investigation into Haynes’ December 2023 email because he felt the TPS officer had shared “personal views” that were “not consistent” with the police force’s priorities.

Under questioning from Haynes’ lawyer, the superintendent acknowledged he also felt that the email had “undermined” his leadership and the leadership of his superiors.

TPS lawyer says comments did not amount to real threat

TPS prosecutor Frank Addario is defending the force against the abuse of process motion. On Thursday, he said he believed van den Berg’s motion contains “extravagant claims” that have not been backed up by evidence.

Cross-examining Haynes on Wednesday, Addario suggested the investigator’s “rip your face off” remark did not constitute a real threat.

“He wasn’t threatening to physically assault you,” Addario said. Instead, the prosecutor suggested the police investigator was effectively saying he would have called Haynes up and given him an earful over the telephone.

Haynes acknowledged the remark did not amount to a physical threat, but said he was nonetheless shocked by the conduct.

In the dismissal motion, Haynes’ lawyer argued the Toronto cop has faced “disguised discipline” as a result of raising workplace concerns.

Haynes testified on Wednesday that during his time at 22 Division he sent numerous emails to his supervisor about a variety of issues, including other officers allegedly having failed to attend radio calls or to show up on time.

While Poaletta said on Thursday that he took Haynes’ concerns seriously and followed up on them, the dismissal motion argues Haynes was effectively demoted as a result of his entreaties for change.

In February 2024, shortly after the TPS began investigating Haynes’ conduct, he was transferred out of 22 Division.

Asked about the transfer, a TPS spokesperson previously told TorontoToday that the Toronto officer was “reassigned” from his staff sergeant role at 22 Division to a position with the Toronto Police College, though they did not provide a rationale for the change.

At one point during Addario’s cross-examination of Haynes on Wednesday, van den Berg asked for opposing counsel to stop pointing his finger directly at the Toronto cop, noting that she found it “uncomfortable.”

The presiding tribunal officer, TPS superintendent Shane Branton, noted that finger-pointing in the tribunal room was also raised by van den Berg last week, and asked Addario to endeavour to refrain from pointing.

Premier’s daughter links Haynes’ TPS complaints to Project South

Among the 12 charges against Haynes, TPS has alleged he forwarded emails about internal police operations to people outside of the force, including his spouse Krista.

The charges also relate to allegations that Haynes “undermined” the police chief in mass emails sent to colleagues, including the blast from December 2023, and posted about police business on Instagram.

Both Haynes and Krista have large social media followings and frequently take to Instagram to post videos where they speak about policing ethics. Krista has criticized the TPS and the charges against Haynes.

In recent weeks, Krista posted videos where she attempts to link supervisory issues at TPS raised by Haynes over the years to Project South, the bombshell organized crime and corruption investigation that resulted in seven Toronto police officers and one former officer being criminally charged.

“When there’s no supervision or inadequate supervision, this is where corruption begins,” she claimed in a video.

In relation to the TPS emails forwarded to her by Haynes, Krista has claimed online that he “sent home” the emails to “preserve” them “for his own protection, for his own defence.”

For his part, Haynes appeared eager to offer his perspective during Wednesday’s hearing, frequently answering what could have been yes or no questions from Addario with long explanations.

At one point, when asked if he agreed with comments that Paoletta had made in an affidavit related to the proceedings, Haynes offered a detailed explanation about how his relationship with his superior had deteriorated over the course of a year.

During his remarks, Haynes said he had been waiting a long time to share his side of the story.

Hearings related to the abuse of process motion continued on Thursday afternoon and are expected to resume Friday.

If the motion is not accepted, the charges against Haynes will be dealt with at a future hearing.

— With files from TorontoToday’s Sarah Do Couto