The issue of how far a Hamilton police officer can go in questioning a member of the public is now in the hands of a Police Services Act hearing officer.
Lawyers have presented their closing arguments at the disciplinary hearing for Const. Andrew Pfeifer who is charged with one count of discreditable conduct.
Defence lawyer Bernard Cummins argues that Pfeifer was “doing his job” and was motivated by “conduct not colour” when he rolled down the window of his cruiser in April 2016 to check on Matthew Green’s well-being, as the city’s only black councillor waited for a bus near Stinson Street and Victoria Avenue.
Cummins has told the hearing that the constable was standing in a muddy area and appeared to be underdressed for the cold conditions in an area “saturated” with people suffering from mental health issues.
He also claimed during closing statements on Thursday, that Green was “hostile” and “argumentative”.
Hamilton Police Service prosecutor Brian Duxbury argues that the incident crossed the “fine line between community policing and interactions that aren’t founded” and became an “arbitrary, unjustified street check.”
Duxbury adds that the exchange between the officer and a well-dressed black man, standing by a bridge and near a sidewalk leaves you feeling “clouded about motives” and with “nagging questions” as to why it started at all.
Green says that the core of his complaint is that he felt “targeted” and “not made to feel welcome in my own neighbourhood.”
He describes the Hamilton Police Service as “wholly unprepared and trained to deal with matters related to bias-free policing”, adding that the strategy is instead to “deny, discredit and dig in.”
The hearing officer has not said when he will issue a ruling on the misconduct allegations against Pfeifer.
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