Former Officer 728, Stfanie Trudeau, took man on 'starlight tour,' says complainant

The Quebec Human Rights Commission is proposingthe City of Montreal and two police officers involved in a 2012 incident pay $40,000 in damages to a man who says he wasviolently arrested and thentaken on a "starlight tour."

Julian Menezes, who is of South Asian descent, saidthe policewoman involvedwas the former Montreal officer known by her badge number, 728 Stfanie Trudeau.

The Centre for Research Action on Race Relations (CRARR), which handled Menezes'complaint, saidMenezes was arrested, driven to a place far away, in a district he wasn't familiar with, and "released in the North end of the island at 3:30 a.m. without themeans to get home."

Trudeau'spartner at the time of the incident,ConstantinosSamaras, is cited for failing to identify himself and for "failure to intervene to stopTrudeau'sactions," according to a news release fromCRARR.

Menezescalled it a "traumatic episode," adding thatTrudeau used racial slurs against him and threatened him with violence.

Trudeaufirst gained notorietyafter she was caught on videopepper-spraying protesters during the 2012 student protests. She was laterfound guilty of assault in a separate incident, for using excessive force during an arrest.

• Stfanie Trudeau, known as 'Officer 728,' guilty of assault
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She quit the force in September 2015.

Pushed to the ground, injured

In his complaint,Menezessaidhe was headed home from a wedding with his wife and another friend when the group saw two police officers speaking with a "visibly shaken" cyclist.

Menezesbelieved the police were hassling the cyclist because he was wearing a red square, the symbol adopted in 2012 by striking students.

After attempting to intervene,Menezes saidhe was pushed to the groundand arrested in such a violent way that he sprained his ankle.

He said he was then issued a ticket and taken on a "starlight tour." After being picked up at the corner of Mont-RoyalAvenue and De la RocheStreet around2:30 a.m., he was driven around "erratically," without a seatbelt, and thendropped off more than an hour later nearCremazieMetro station.

The Metro was closed at that hour. Menezesmanaged to get home by Bixi,despite his twisted ankle.

Police ethics commission to investigate

The Human Rights Commission determinedthatMenezes had been subjected to racial profiling and discriminatory treatment because of his race.

In its judgment, handed down lastNov. 29,the commission recommended thatthe City of Montreal and the officers involved in the incident pay $25,000 in moral damages, with an additional $15,000 levied againstthe two officers in punitive damages.

Menezes saidhe was "surprised" and "heartened" by the ruling.

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In addition to filing a complaint with the Human Rights Commission,Menezes also filed one with the police ethics commission. That hearing is scheduled for April 4.

'Still a long way to go'

Menezes saidthat while he sees the human rights rulingas a small victory, there is more work to be done when it comes to sensitizing police to racial issues.

"I think there's still a long way to go," he said, adding that until the police formally investigate racial profiling, "it's hard to make inroads into the community, since that trust has already been broken."

Fo Niemi, CRARR'sexecutive director, told CBC he hopes the ruling will "send a strong message to the Montreal police."

"The department, especially under the new leadership of the present chief, has to be consistent and be very constant in terms of its efforts to ensure that police services are bias-free," said Niemi.

Neither the Montreal police service nor theMontreal Police Brotherhood, the union representing members of the police service, would comment on the ruling.