A city watchdog has identified serious flaws with an internal TTC investigation that largely exonerated three fare inspectors who forcibly detained a young Black man on a streetcar platform last year. In a report released Thursday, Toronto Ombudsman Susan Opler concluded that while the transit agency’s investigation into the conduct of its own officers had some positive aspects, it failed to examine evidence of potential racial bias and was “not adequately thorough, fair, and transparent” to support its conclusions.The TTC issued a statement saying the agency accepts her recommendations and committed to implementing them by the end of this year.“We are committed to human rights and to celebrating diversity. And I know that we can and need to — and will — do better,” said TTC CEO Rick Leary. The confrontation between the inspectors and the young man on the St. Clair streetcar route on Feb. 18, 2018 incident was caught on video, and raised concerns about the behaviour of transit officers after the footage was widely circulated online. In a video shot by a bystander, the man, Reece Maxwell-Crawford, who was 19 at the time, can be heard crying “I didn’t do anything though” and “you’re hurting me” as he’s pinned to the ground by a trio of TTC inspectors as well as Toronto police officers who came to assist them.Read more:Man suing TTC claims violent assault a case of ‘racial profiling’TTC ticketing data raises concerns that Black transit users are being fined at a disproportionately high rateTTC officers have collected more than 40,000 records on riders who weren’t charged with an offenceA 101-page investigation the TTC released in July 2018 found insufficient evidence to support allegations of misconduct, aside from concluding that one of the fare inspectors had inappropriately smiled at the young man. The ombudsman, an accountability officer responsible for oversee ...
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