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The thirst for info should not outweigh the need for facts
November 25, 2023

A misquote from the main character in the old Dragnet television show from the late 1960s resulted in a popular phrase, “Just the facts ma’am.” Although Sgt. Joe Friday never actually said that exact string of words, the premise was and remains an important one. As a police investigator, he wanted the facts, not a bunch of speculations, rumours and exaggerations.


The mainstream media most often worked under that principle. Many outlets still do, but not all – particularly the politically connected ones. The days of verifying critical information before releasing it to the public and perhaps jeopardizing a future trial or unfairly maligning an individual or organization, are long gone to some.


In my view, the main reason for that evolution is the proliferation of social media and the ability to float outright lies and embellishments as well as the inclination to throw the proverbial shit at the wall to see what sticks. Former President U.S. Donald Trump turned it into an art form over the past decade, and sadly many of his colleagues, followers and politicized media organizations have followed suit. And that comes from faces and names that we know and recognize! Then there are the nameless, faceless trolls that never have anything nice or remotely accurate to say about anyone or anything.


This constant flow of social media misinformation on world events has put untold pressure on credible media outlets to report “something” immediately and before their news deadlines – as opposed to verifying, or they fall behind the curve. Even when they do confirm details relatively quickly, the false information is already out there, and it is then like swimming up Niagara Falls to get the facts communicated. That flow of bits of facts combined with tons of misinformation can cause unnecessary anxiety among community members and often costly over-reactions by political leaders and then unnecessary scrambling by the various government agencies they lead downstream.


Speaking of Niagara Falls, case in point: when a car crashed in a fiery ball on the U.S. side of the Rainbow Bridge there early Wednesday afternoon, all hell broke loose. Within seconds social media posts claimed terrorists with explosives from the Canadian side had attacked the port of entry on the American side. One major U.S. news outlet reported it as fact immediately. Others announced that “there were reports” of a terrorist attack. As security and law enforcement agencies on both sides of the border were trying to sort out the who, what, when, what and why of the event, some U.S. Republican politicians used it to criticize President Joe Biden and his border security policies. Many Americans truly thought that terrorists from Canada had attacked the United States. The reality that eventually emerged was that there were no explosives, there was no terrorists at all, but a NY man and his wife were killed after driving at insane speeds through the city of Niagara Falls New York and crashing at the U.S. Customs property.

Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre questioned PM Justin Trudeau in the House, as to government’s action plan to provide security for Canadians, stating: “We’ve just heard media reports of a terrorist attack…” In fairness he did not definitively say it was terrorism, but simply quoted the story as reported by several media outlets. The PM replied quite appropriately (and I seldom agree with him), but regardless 2 days of political attacks of Poilievre followed, like it only can in that world.


Nonetheless, all the swirl that resulted from initial and inaccurate media reports that emanated from social media jib jab, turned a tragic but spectacular fatal car crash – unfortunately at a high-profile location on a U.S. holiday weekend and at the same time as the Israel/Hamas war, into leading world news coverage.


I do not blame U.S. officials for treating the crash as a potential terrorist attack until proven otherwise. It’s easier to gear down and turn the federal investigation over to local authorities when you’re sure, then it is to spool up to a national security investigation a day or two later. I think they managed it quite appropriately. Social media and the resulting frantic spin took it from there.


Unfortunately, we cannot stop the silly side of social media. False flags, unfair finger-pointing, untrue allegations and slams against individuals, politicians, public officials, and organizations likely won’t lessen soon. We cannot legislate intelligence and maturity, nor can we satiate the thirst for information as opposed to facts. But do the rest of us have to believe it, further it and add to the mayhem? Should elected officials not stay out of the fray and not further dangerous falsehoods that scare the heck out of millions of people just to discredit rivals? We have enough real and desperate issues in the world to address without having to face a never-ending circus of misinformation free-for-alls.


How or why this horrific crash occurred remains unknown. We do not yet know if it was intentional or the result of impairment or a physical or mental health episode. We do know that terrible things happen on occasion. But we must rely on authorities to take control when they do; determine the reality of the threat and issue public safety advisories accordingly, with mainstream and social media platforms being credible and honest players in the process. We the consumers of the information and the political masters of the responding agencies, all need to take a deep breath, hear the facts from our experts and think logically before hitting the panic button.

Leadership involves risk, especially in policing

By Chris Lewis • March 28, 2026
Leadership is inundated with risk, every hour of every day, in all sectors. In policing, legislative authorities and established policy are the ever-present guideposts, but occasionally policy just doesn’t apply. At times someone has to just make a decision to do something, or not, or they will fail the public they serve and the personnel it is their duty to lead. If it goes bad, time to own up, do damage control, learn from it and move forward. It always frightened me when I saw some at the senior executive level in policing think that supervisors and managers operate in a pristine little bubble where nothing should ever go wrong. Then when it did because some supervisor tried their best to make something work for all the right reasons, they wanted to pigeon-hole the person that took the risk. There were times during my own career when executives were not encouraged to take any risk either. In fact, taking risk was career risk in itself. Despite the best of intentions, if it went bad, the one ‘responsible’ be forever labelled as having failed. Even if the gamble went well, the jaundiced eyes from above would still forever look at them as being a potential liability. It became the “Oh, him. He’s the one that...” At times the daily decision making of high-level commanders would be second-guessed by those in the executive suites – some of whom had never really commanded anything. My buddy retired Chief Wayne Frechette used to describe these folks as: “They’ve never been out after dark on company time.” I know this same concept was alive in many other police services. Some at executive levels actually did serve in operational roles at some point but they never took a risk. Somehow, they were fortunate to skate through difficult situations through sheer luck as opposed to good decision-making and never developed any scar tissue along the way. They didn’t learn from failure – they survived by luck. They also were viewed by weak executives above them as being golden because there was never a milli-second of negativity around them. They were Teflon. But those that worked under their “command” (for lack of a better word) had no respect for them. They simply watched them walk around with coffee in hand, never leaving the office or making a decision. It wasn’t leadership, but it did pave the way to stardom from on high, for some. True leaders do take risks at times. Many I worked with and for did it all and did it well. They did so in the best interests of those they served and those they led, because it wasn’t about themselves, but was done in the service of those that placed their trust in them. Policy simply doesn’t fit every situation. It is most often a guide that anticipates most circumstances that employees will face, particularly the more common (high-frequency) ones. But it cannot predict every possible scenario. When that happens in policing, it can occur in very unlikely situations (low-frequency) that are incredibly high-risk. Supervisors cannot say “Sorry folks, the book doesn’t cover this one” and run away crying. They also don’t have time to tell bad guys, “Hey big fella, sit tight. We need to take a pause here and get the whiteboard out so we can have a group-think about how to stop your murderous rampage.” I think that many pseudo-leaders – far too many, are afraid to make risky decisions out of fear that an error will jeopardize their career. Instead, they risk their careers by not making decisions. Or as I like to say: “their fear of career-risk, risks their careers.” This can be fatal in the policing world. When a police supervisor shirks their responsibilities or quivers, sucks their thumb, and prays for the situation to go away, thankfully constables will come forward and do their best to get their teammates through it. Sometimes that ends well and when the supervisor emerges from their fear-induced coma, they will more often than not take credit for the success. But when the situation goes to hell-in-a-handbasket – despite best efforts, the pseudo-leader will document the risk-taking employee and add another bullet-point to their list of things they’ve done to “hold people accountable.” The panel at their next promotional interview will likely hear the false rendition proudly told. I hear examples of this practise from serving police officers across North America on a much too frequent basis. True leaders develop a culture of trust among those they lead that their suggestions and feedback are encouraged and valued. Their confidence that the leader wants their input encourages them to constantly analyze situations and give thought to what policy says and the options available when policy says nothing. That is good for the employee’s development and may save the leader’s hind-end and the continuity of the team on occasion when an employee steps forward in a crisis. Having said that, there will clearly be situations where there isn’t time for the whiteboard, and a decision needs to be made by the responsible “leader.” When it doesn’t work out, the real leader will step forward and be accountable. But when it does go well, the true leader will allow the light to shine on the team they have the honour to lead. In my view, we’re not seeing enough of that in North American policing. We need more genuine leaders at all levels of law enforcement organizations. Developing and promoting real leaders that can manage risk effectively is a must. Anything less fails everyone.

Why Joint Forces Operations Are No Longer Optional

By Chris Lewis • March 26, 2026
They used to be simply a "nice to have."

Police investigating police: Is there another option?

By Chris Lewis • March 18, 2026
The March 17 th announcement by the Toronto Police Service (TPS) regarding the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) investigation into allegations by an Ontario Justice that three TPS officers colluded and lied during a 2024 murder trial against a man that ran over and killed TPS Constable Jeffrey Northrup in 2021, has further inflamed the debate over who should investigate alleged police wrongdoing. This instance combined with the recent arrests and ongoing police investigation into several TPS officers for their alleged involvement with organized crime, has brought this discussion to a boiling point. I appreciate the public perceptions around this investigative model given that the average citizen doesn’t necessarily understand the professionalism and commitment of police investigative teams like the recent OPP Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB) group. I have all the confidence the world in that team, but I also personally know the ability and integrity of the OPP Detective Inspector in-charge. So, if these investigations aren’t carried out by police, who will do them? They do not fall under the mandate of the Ontario Special Investigations Unit (SIU), which by the way is largely comprised of former police criminal investigators and forensic identification experts, many of whom investigated homicides in police services. For SIU to assume a larger role, they would have to grow exponentially and expand their team of ‘former cops’. These cases generally do not fall under the purview of Ontario’s Inspectorate of Policing either. They would loosely fall under the oversight role of Ontario’s Law Enforcement Complaints Agency (LECA), who is responsible for receiving, managing and overseeing public complaints against police, but frankly they don’t have mandate or the horsepower to conduct complex criminal investigations. They oversee the “public complaints” that may lead to a criminal investigation, but the investigation would be the responsibility of a police service to conduct. An expansion of the LECA would require a tremendous amount of funding and human resources, most of whom would also be former police officers. Hiring and training civilians to conduct such investigations is an option, but largely an incomprehensible one. Police criminal investigators are trained officers that generally start out as uniformed officers responding to occurrences and investigating more routine and less serious crimes, i.e. minor assaults and property crimes. They build investigative expertise over time, including in interviewing and interrogation; gathering and securing physical evidence; legal processes like obtaining judicial authorizations; presenting evidence in court; and various investigative strategies. They learn how to work with special police units that provide specific investigative skills, and more. All of this doesn’t happen overnight, but over a period of years and with the tutelage of more experienced investigators along that journey. Trying to turn a group of young and well-educated civilians – no matter how intelligent and well-intended, into a team of elite investigators, would be a complete disaster and unfair to the public or to the officers being investigated. Over my many years as a member or as the Director of the OPP CIB, my colleagues and I investigated criminal allegations against cops from other agencies. Before the SIU was formed, we investigated officers from many Ontario police services – large and small, who had used deadly force. Many were cleared and a number were arrested and charged. We also investigated criminal allegations against police chiefs in Ontario. Again, several were appropriately cleared, and some were brought before the courts. Municipal, provincial and federal elected officials were similarly investigated and some charged. Our members also investigated police officers in other provinces, including high-ranking ones. I personally investigated two Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officers that were involved in an arrest that result in the death of a suspect. They were properly exonerated, but I would have charged them in a heartbeat if they had wrongfully killed than man. I arrested an OPP Sergeant for sexual assault. A CIB colleague investigated and arrested two different OPP officers for criminal offences. Both of those officers had been personal friends of mine and years later committed suicide. There are tons of similar examples that I can refer to over my career. All of these involved the oversight and legal analysis of a Crown Attorney, sometimes from another province. The interesting thing, and what most of the anti-police folks will never believe, is that in every single one of those investigations, the dialogue that I was involved in with other officers that I worked with or supervised, involved doing what was right. In other words, “If the allegation is substantiated, we will put the case together, arrest them and put them before the courts.” Not even once, did we think about or do anything that would give an officer a pass when they committed a criminal offence. Never. I have every confidence in the world that the vast majority of municipal and RCMP colleagues across Canada would operate under the same guiding principle. Has the occasional officer worked in conflict with that approach? Undoubtedly. Were some investigators not as committed or capable as they should be and perhaps did a poor investigation accidentally or deliberately? Quite likely so. But I truly believe those cases are the exception, not the rule in criminal investigations. Where I more often believe poor investigations or deliberate attempts to inappropriately give a colleague a break continues to occur, is in Police Act investigations, where policy or employee harassment wrongdoings are suspected. I like to think that the focus on that continues to improve, but not fast enough in some cases. Sadly, I know now that unbeknownst to me at the time, it happened under my watch. A focus for my next article. The public and police deserve the very best of investigators to ensure that bad cops are effectively put out of business and good officers are cleared. If there’s another effective option that would appease the doubting public – aside from using current officers from other agencies or creating a new and costly entity that would be staffed by former police officers, I’d like to hear it.