TORONTO — Firing the top officer who gave sweeping and illegal arrest orders at the G20 summit six years ago would be absurd under the circumstances, his lawyer said Thursday.
Speaking at a sentencing hearing for Supt. David (Mark) Fenton, lawyer Peter Brauti said even a reprimand would be too harsh for an officer motivated only by a desire to restore public order.
Brauti made much of the fact that Fenton took over an operational command in "panic mode" following a spate of unprecedented vandalism by "roving packs of hooligans" that transformed the downtown into a war zone.
Under orders from his superiors to "take back the streets," Fenton issued his sweeping arrest orders on the fly and his supervisors did not object, the tribunal heard.
"Fenton was not a lone wolf in dealing with this situation," Brauti told retired justice John Hamilton. "It was not the failings of one man, but rather the failings of an entire senior command."
Those arrested during the chaotic summit weekend in June 2010 want the 56-year-old Fenton fired, an extreme punishment Brauti called "patently absurd" under what were unprecedented and unique circumstances.
He accused the complainants of being over-zealous in their single-minded push of a "professional death sentence."
For its part, the prosecution defended its call for a year-long demotion, but Brauti said even that would be too harsh, and end up costing the officer as much as $45,000 in lost wages and pension.
Hamilton convicted the father and grandfather under the Police Services Act last year for ordering the indiscriminate arrests of hundreds of people — most peaceful protesters and innocent bystanders — without reasonable grounds to do so.
Fenton's prosecution came at the direction of an independent watchdog, not at the behest of former chief and current Liberal MP Bill Blair, who later thanked all police officers for their G20 efforts.
Brauti said his "first-time offender" client had a stellar record since joining the Toronto police service in 1988, and still enjoys the full confidence of both senior command and subordinates.
Fenton, who remains in charge of his large division, should not have to bear the brunt of the failings of an entire senior command that had no idea how to contain the violence, the lawyer said.
"Supt. Fenton has become the focus of the failings in the G20," Brauti said. "If he fell into error, (his superiors) were similarly in error and had more experience than he had."
The officer is not trying to avoid responsibility — Fenton apologized after his guilty finding — but the context in which he made difficult, if flawed, decisions has to be taken into consideration, Brauti said.
The charges and guilt findings have already been personally and professionally devastating, the lawyer said.
Fenton's 20-year marriage ended and his health has suffered as a result of the charges against him, while the promotions he once coveted are no longer in the cards, Brauti told Hamilton, urging him against handing out a "political" punishment.
