Several Peel Regional Police constables will be disciplined, and some may face criminal charges, following an internal affairs probe into an outdoor drinking party over the summer that allegedly saw two men assaulted by off-duty officers.
The probe into the Mississauga incident on Aug. 28, has been completed, as the force's Professional Standards Bureau is waiting to hear back from the Peel Crown Attorney's Office on whether criminal charges should be laid, according to Insp. Steve Mendyk.

High-ranking sources within the force have indicated that, at the very least, several officers will be disciplined internally and as many as five officers could face criminal charges.

Officers not charged criminally will face Police Services Act charges ranging from suspension and docked pay to dismissal.

Peel Chief of Police Michael Metcalf, who has made the internal probe a high priority, indicated in an email that the results of the investigation will soon be made public.

More than a dozen Peel officers, male and female, were involved when Mississauga residents Richard Cimpoesu, 24, and Orlando Canizalez, 20, claim they were chased down and punched about the head and body in the early morning hours of Aug. 28. The incident occurred after several officers who were drinking beer and acting rowdy behind the Ethan Allen furniture store on Dundas St. W,, caught the two men videotaping them, they claim.

The men sustained severe bruising to their stomachs and heads from the alleged attack, and they also claim they were threatened to tell the officers where the camera was and to turn it over immediately. But, police didn't find the video camera, and the two men later recovered it in nearby bushes, they said.

"I'm upset. You don't expect this kind of thing to happen. We went out there. We didn't mean any harm. We didn't expect the people that are supposed to protect us would come after us," said Cimpoesu, a St. Joseph Secondary School graduate. "I'm scared. I can't walk down the street without having to look if police are after me."

Cimpoesu and Canizalez have been interviewed at least twice about their allegations.

No criminal charges will be laid against a group of off-duty police officers who chased and roughed up two Mississauga men who filmed them at an outdoor summer booze party.
Instead, Peel Regional Police will take disciplinary action under the Police Services Act against 24 officers from

11 Division. They will be charged with discreditable conduct, neglect of duty,

corrupt practice and deceit.

The disciplinary hearings begin Jan. 22.

Criminal charges would have "no reasonable prospect of conviction," Crown lawyers decided.

Two Mississauga men filed a complaint with police after they videotaped officers drinking behind an Erin Mills business establishment in August.

The actions of the involved officers "have brought discredit to the reputation of the Peel Regional Police. Their actions are unacceptable and inconsistent with the core values of the organization," Peel Regional Police said in a press release.

Dozens of Police Act charges have been laid against 24 Peel Regional Police officers for their roles in an off-duty beer bash last summer.
Some of the charges involve a complaint by two young men who say they were chased, threatened and roughed up by several officers after they were discovered filming the bash.

It's believed to be the largest number of police officers to ever face discipline at one time on a Canadian force.

"It's not my proudest moment for sure," Peel Police Chief Mike Metcalf said yesterday in an interview after the force announced it had laid the charges. "Obviously when you charge that many officers it shows we've taken this very seriously. I don't think you'll be seeing any of our officers drinking in parking lots again."

The Crown attorney's office decided no criminal charges should be laid because there was no reasonable prospect of conviction.

Instead, discreditable conduct, neglect of duty, corrupt practice and deceit charges were laid yesterday against two sergeants and 22 constables. The names of the officers remain under wrap until they make their first appearance on Jan. 22.

They face consequences that include suspension, loss of pay and dismissal. None of the officers have been suspended. A charge of corrupt practice can include bribery and failing to account for or return money or property, police said.

The charges were laid after a lengthy probe by Peel's internal affairs unit into the two young men's allegations after the Aug. 28 off-duty beer bash behind a Mississauga furniture store.

Metcalf said not all the charges relate to the alleged incident involving the two men but are connected to the officers' conduct before and after that.

"There are still some pretty good people in that platoon but they had a collapse of judgment and they're willing to pay for it," Metcalf said. "We're not going to give up on them. Some of them are relatively new. The sergeants are experienced officers.

"They're embarrassed. I'm embarrassed. They embarrassed the whole organization. I personally feel bad about it. The public and taxpayers deserve better."

Metcalf said in laying the charges, investigators looked at the "degrees of participation" and noted that "some of the officers had a couple of beers and left" before the alleged incident with the young men.

He said three of the officers have been transferred from their units.

Richard Cimposeau, 24, and Orlando Canizalez, 21, claimed they were assaulted by several officers after they were discovered videotaping the rowdy off-duty party that took place between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. behind the Ethan Allen Furniture store, a few hundred metres west of the 11 Division police station at the corner of Dundas St. W. and Erin Mills Parkway.

Several of the officers appeared intoxicated and were howling like wolves during the video, which was turned over to Internal Affairs. The two men said they ditched the camera and film during the chase.

Attorney Bill Bain, who is acting for the two young men, said he was surprised by the number of officers charged and disturbed that no criminal charges had been laid.

"I'll be consulting with my clients next week and we'll decide what steps we're going to take from there," he said.