Rookie London cop who flashed badge, stopped streetcar ‘learned from experience’

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A London police rookie who flashed her badge and stopped a Toronto streetcar after getting kicked out of a bar has learned from her mistakes, the officer hearing her professional misconduct case says.

Const. Danielle Saldanha pleaded guilty June 3 to one count of discreditable conduct in relation to off-duty actions on Dec. 13, 2023, that led to her arrest and a trip to the hospital to be treated for intoxication. She was suspended without pay for 25 days and ordered to complete substance abuse counselling.

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“She has learned from this experience and she will do better in the future,” hearing officer Morris Elbers wrote in his decision released Tuesday. “She is aware that she has been given a second opportunity to show to her superiors that she is a good officer and can be trusted.”

But the retired OPP superintendent also had stern words for Saldanha, a London constable since April 2023.

“As a member of the London Police Service, the citizens of this community expect and must receive the very best from their officers, whether you are on or off duty,” he wrote in the 11-page decision. “Your actions are in a direct contrast to the material values of this service. They directly violate the very core of the values we instil in our members from recruit phase to present.”

Saldanha was bar-hopping with an off-duty local police officer in Toronto when she was denied re-entry into a bar because she was too drunk, according to an agreed statement of facts presented at last week’s hearing.

She walked into oncoming traffic, climbed on the hood of a vehicle and hit the windshield before her friend pulled her into a ride-sharing vehicle. While in the vehicle, Saldanha assaulted her friend, who called a fellow Toronto police officer for advice. The incident was reported to Toronto police, but the friend declined to pursue charges and investigators determined the altercation was consensual.

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Now alone, Saldanha stopped a streetcar, flashed her badge to the driver and said she needed help. The driver directed passengers to leave the streetcar and called Toronto police.

“I have a gun in my band, don’t shoot me,” Saldanha told a responding officer as she put her hands up

After searching Saldanha and the streetcar, Toronto police contacted the London police duty sergeant, who seized Saldanha’s gun and other weapons from her locker.

Saldanha verbally abused Toronto police officers while waiting to be taken to the hospital, where she was picked up by a family friend before being assessed.

Elbers called Saldanha’s actions “shocking” and said she’s fortunate Toronto police didn’t charge her.

Saldanha apologized to Toronto police, London police and citizens of London for her conduct at last week’s hearing.

Elbers highlighted Saldanha’s apology, guilty plea and demonstration of remorse as mitigating factors considered when he accepted the sentence proposed by  defence lawyer Lucas O’Hara and London police counsel Madeline McKinnon.

“I believe this (penalty) addresses the specific and general deterrence for officers of the service and the need to show the public that the service has their interest in mind to make officers accountable for their actions, whether on or off duty,” Elbers wrote.

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“London Police Service will not tolerate unacceptable behaviour by its members. The rank structure within the London Police Service is the backbone of the organization. It must be respected.”

Saldanha has no prior disciplinary history and remained on active duty throughout the internal police probe that led to the professional misconduct charge under the Police Services Act, that law governing police that was replaced by the Community Safety and Policing Act in April.

dcarruthers@postmedia.com

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