MANDEL: The Toronto police union disagrees with the light sentence given to the gunman

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It's a miracle a Toronto Police officer didn't die this Christmas morning in 2021.

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““It is undoubtedly just a matter of sheer luck that neither the officers you engaged nor any passing member of the public were struck by a bullet fired from your weapon, causing death or injury,” Ontario Court Justice Michael Waby told Michael Katz in that week.

“I am convinced that the fact that these events took place on Christmas morning meant that on St. Clair Avenue was quieter than usual and fortunately reduced the risk of disaster.”

The court heard how hard, under the influence of marijuana, 35-year-old Katz hit the back of a Toyota parked on a city street, told the owner to fuck off and then drove away.

Police were called and located Katz and his damaged car, but he insisted it was not his name. When the two tried to arrest him, he not only refused to comply, but during a “sustained and significant” fight on St. Clair Ave. W. Waby said that he pulled out a black pistol and fired – fortunately, the shot did not hit anyone and the gun fell onto the street.

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Support arrived – and they, too, had trouble getting it under control. When Katz managed to slip off his T-shirt and jacket and started running, police tasered him. And he still didn't cooperate, the judge said. Instead, he grabbed the stun gun used by Consta. Nicola Kirwan and fired.

Not a very bright move. With the electrodes still embedded in Katz, he subjected himself to the washboard again.

Fortunately, it was a conscientious citizen who noticed the gun dropped in the street – A 9 mm Glock with one bullet in the chamber – and handed it over to the police.

Multiple charges were originally brought against Katz – including two counts of attempted murder He pleaded guilty in May to four offenses: possession of a loaded prohibited firearm, and aassaulting a police officer with a weapon (taser), failure to stop at the scene and impaired driving.

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The Crown asked for a four-year sentence less pre-trial detention. His lawyer demanded that the first perpetrator receive a conditional sentence of six to nine months.

The judge rejected the defense's request for leniency because police used “excessive force.”

“Body-worn cameras, Sallyport port video and cellphone video reveal that Mr. Katz was adamantly and emphatically uncooperative throughout his interactions with police officers,” Waby wrote.

He added that police had to use force during a chaotic interaction to gain control of “a physically strong man who voluntarily took drugs, who was very physically resistant, who consistently refused to comply with appropriate commands and who attempted to flee from officers after moments earlier drawing and discharging a handgun in the middle of Toronto's Main Street while officers were investigating a crash involving a failure to stop.”

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The judge rightly noted that the job of a Toronto police officer is dangerous: statistics show that from the beginning of the year to the beginning of October, 671 TPS officers were injured as a result of assault. Two officers who responded to the scene – one of whom required shoulder surgery – detailed in victim impact statements that they feared they would be killed.

“The public has a right to expect that the courts will take attacks on police officers and other first responders seriously,” Waby said. “Assault is not part of the duties of a police officer and the fact that Parliament has ordered that the sentence for this offense in this case should be served after another sentence underlines this even more.”

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This all sounds great – but then the judge went and sentenced Katz to 18 months for possession of a firearm, failure to remain in custody and quashing of convictions, and six months for assaulting police with a stun gun.

Toronto Police Association president Clayton Campbell called the ruling “absurd.”

“This decision is a slap in the face not only to the members who were attacked, but to every member who serves this city and puts their lives at risk,” he said Toronto Sun.

“What message does this send to other criminals or anyone who wants to become a police officer when the attempted murder of police officers goes relatively unpunished? Our members and our communities deserve better.”

Certainly yes.

mmandel@postmedia.com

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