Cops caught on video mocking woman with Down syndrome appear before police tribunal

Two Toronto police officers who were caught on dash camera video mocking a young woman with Down syndrome during a traffic stop in Etobicoke last year appeared before a police tribunal at Toronto police headquarters this morning.

Const. Sasa Sljivo has been charged with discreditable conduct and Const. Matthew Saris has been charged with neglect of duty under the Police Services Act in connection with the November 2016 incident.

On Nov. 5, 2016, Pamela Munoz and her two daughters were pulled over by two officers in the area of Royal York Road and the Queensway for a traffic stop.

It wasn’t until months later she learned that during the traffic stop, the officers sat in their cruiser and mocked her daughter Francie, who has Down syndrome.

When Munoz was preparing to fight the ticket in court in June, she obtained dash camera video of the incident.

On the video, one of the officers is heard calling Francie “disfigured” and suggests that he would use “artistic” as his code word for “different.” The other officer is heard repeatedly laughing at his partner’s comments.

Speaking outside Toronto police headquarters on Tuesday, Francie’s father Carlos Munoz said he hopes to see “some sort of justice” for Francie and for the “community at large.”

“I want to find out how the police department is going react and what kind of resolution we’re going to get,” he added.

The officers previously released a written apology for their conduct.

The constables called their comments “inappropriate, disrespectful and unprofessional” and promised not to repeat their “lapse in judgment.”

“We regret the emotional distress we caused to you, your family and the broader community,” the statement read.

The apology, the Munoz family says, does not go far enough.

“We are not satisfied with the letter,” Pamela Munoz told CP24 Tuesday.

“It looks like a template letter. We actually did not receive the letter. We were informed by the media that this letter was out there and it was in response to the interviews I did… we were an afterthought.”

She added that the family asked for a public apology in front of a camera, a request which was rejected.

After a brief hearing on Tuesday, the case was adjourned until Sept. 19.

Francie Munoz, surrounded by friends and supporters, said it was “a bit awkward” being in the same room with the officers.

“I looked at them. They did not look at me,” she said.

Pamela Munoz said she would like to see the officers leave the police service but added that she does not believe that will be the outcome of the case.

“It’s shameful for our police officers to feel that way, to think that way,” she said.

“In my work, if I made a comment like that, I’d be out the same day. It is not acceptable.”