A senior Toronto police officer, Superintendent Stacy Clarke, is facing a professional misconduct trial after admitting to providing confidential interview information to six black officers to assist them in promotion processes. Clarke, the highest-ranking black woman in the Toronto Police Service (TPS), was part of a panel responsible for interviewing and promoting officers in 2021.
In what she described as an effort to diversify the police force, Clarke shared interview answers with the six potential candidates of the same race. She cited the “racist undertones” within Canadian police culture and expressed that without her intervention, the candidates “didn’t stand a chance.”
In an internal report from January 2022, Clarke wrote: “I felt at the time that they did not have a fair chance in this process, and my own history and experience of racial inequity compounded this feeling … I decided that if the opportunity presented itself, I would assist the candidates and make a desperate effort to level the playing field.”
Clarke also noted that the 2020 death of George Floyd caused her “acute stress” when she was appointed to lead the force’s response to the Black Lives Matter protests and was asked to be the “public face of progress and change within Toronto police.”
In 2023, under the Ontario Police Services Act, Clarke pleaded guilty to several charges, including discreditable conduct, insubordination, and breach of confidence.
The four-day trial began on Monday, where Clarke explained her intentions in a letter read by her lawyer, Joseph Markson, stating, “We say we are striving for equity and inclusion, but my personal experiences have come into conflict with that notion.”
Markson claimed Clarke committed a “desperate act of equalization” by helping “the next generation of Black officers” succeed on their interviews, stating she has faced challenges as “the first black female superintendent in the history of the Toronto Police Service.”
The prosecutor, Scott Hutchinson, reminded the court that Clarke’s behavior would typically warrant dismissal, proposing a two-year demotion before she can reapply for a superintendent position.
The disciplinary hearing is scheduled to continue at Toronto Police Headquarters.