For one former police officer, it seems like crime does pay: The ugly brutal past of former Constable William Walker

BY MICHAEL THOMAS

In 2004 a judge found Toronto constable William Walker guilty of assault in the wrongful arrest of a 46-year-old printer. Walker was found guilty of assault causing bodily harm when he stopped Devon Murray in 2002. During his arrest, Murray was handcuffed, smashed against a cruiser, and forced to the ground. His left cheekbone was fractured.

Murray, a Jamaican immigrant, was simply walking home from work when Walker stopped him. What transpired next was nothing short of a miracle for him. Murray, finding no reason why he should be stopped, asked Constable Walker if it was a crime to be Black, stretched out his two hands, and said, “Then arrest me.”

From there all hell broke loose for Murray, Walker replied, “You are under arrest.” This is how Murray suffered all the bodily harm explained in the opening paragraph of this article.

In his defence, Constable Walker claimed the good old-fashioned one. Imagine coming out of your car, arresting someone, badly beating that person, and then telling a judge that you were concerned for your safety. Why does this sound familiar?

However, Judge Annemarie Bonkalo never bought Walker’s story and convicted him of assault plus wrongful arrest.

All this took place because Constable Walker thought Murray was a suspect that was sought by police, yet, when he realized it was not his suspect; he still made the arrest and took Murray off to be detained.

Just the fact that this officer continued to investigate Mr. Murray even after he knew that this was the wrong man speaks volumes of his true intentions.

Mr. Murray’s attorney Robert Rotenberg had this to say at the time of Constable Walker’s conviction, “This is not an anti-police ruling but a ruling that says we live in a city where like everyone else, police have limitations. There are limitations on the power they have over citizens,”

Back then Murray had filed a $1.6-million lawsuit against Constable Walker and the Toronto Police Services Board.

It has come to the attention of Toronto Caribbean Newspaper that former Police Constable William D Walker is now a high-ranking member of the City of Toronto Marine Fire Services, according to the Province of Ontario, Treasury Board Secretariat. The position title is District Chief Senior Fire Boat Captain.

This is not an overnight position. It is most likely that Walker has been working in that field for several years now and at present has an annual salary of $191,940.37.

Just to be factual this information can be found on the Ontario government website.

Here is a short bio of this famous officer’s career after leaving Toronto’s Police Force.

Meet Captain Bill Walker, Bill is the Senior Marine Captain at Toronto Fire Services and has over 33 years of service as a Commercial Captain with Ontario Northland and a variety of Lake Freighter and Tour Boat operations. Prior to being hired by Toronto Fire, he worked for the Toronto Police Marine Unit, where he responded to hundreds of marine incidents. Bill has worked with Toronto Fire Services since 2009 and is currently in charge of the Toronto Fires Marine division, where he supervises shift Captains and Engineers. Bill is also the lead instructor for Rescue Boat Operations and Fireboat-based Ice Water Rescue Operations.

Our question here is how do you get convicted as a police officer of wrongful arrest and assault causing bodily harm and then find your way to this high-profile position without any of the so-called mainstream media shedding light on your ugly and brutal past?

I remember a time when convicted criminals who were released into society were barred from such positions, and the public was notified of the whereabouts of such dangerous men. What has changed in Walker’s case?

This is a man who made a conscious decision to profile a member of Canada’s minority Black community, brutalize the individual, wrongfully arrest and detain him, and had the guts to go to court and lie to a judge all in the name of serving and protecting, which is what he was supposed to be doing. As taxpayers, our community reserves the right to know the background of its officials. Talk about a slap in the face.