Quebec’s police ethics tribunal has sanctioned a retired Montreal police sergeant for inappropriate comments made to a woman filing a stalking complaint, including questioning how she dressed.
In a recent decision, the tribunal ruled the comments reflect old policing mentalities and are precisely the sort of remarks that undermine victims’ trust in the justice system.
“Such words spoken by a police officer to a citizen have an impact on the victim’s confidence in the police force,” wrote administrative judge Lysane Cree. “As well as on the public’s willingness to file complaints.”
The case stems from a stalking and harassment police complaint that Anastasia Boldireff, a doctoral student at Concordia University, made in 2019.
Boldireff, then 30, had been insistently followed and harassed by a man asking her to go out with him. She was accosted at least three times by the man, including in front of the university and outside a nearby café.
Fearing for her safety, Boldireff went to police Station 20 downtown to file a complaint, where she met with officer Kevin Jacob and his superior, police sergeant Martin Bouchard.
After describing her stalker during the meeting, the tribunal heard, Bouchard told Boldireff: “He sounds like a good-looking man. A soccer player you say? Why don’t you go on a date with him?”
When she was done filing her complaint, Boldireff had asked if a police officer could accompany her home but was told none were available.
Bouchard instead offered her safety advice for her walk home, during which he added: “You should consider what you’re wearing.”
Boldireff has said she was terrified when she went to file her complaint and felt as though the police never took her seriously. She left the station feeling dismissed and belittled.
In her decision, Cree ruled the comments were especially harmful since Bouchard made them while Boldireff was already in a vulnerable state after being followed and harassed.
Though Bouchard’s lawyer argued there was no malice behind his remarks, Cree noted he should have known better as a sergeant with 25 years’ experience speaking to a victim looking to be reassured.
“It is clear that the remarks should not have been made,” Cree wrote. “Such remarks reflect old mentalities that hold the victim responsible for his or her fate.”
Given that Bouchard is now retired, the tribunal could not sanction him to a suspension as it usually would in similar cases. He has instead been disqualified from working as a peace officer for a period of three months for each remark. The sanctions are to be served concurrently.
The ethics tribunal had previously dismissed a complaint against Jacob, the other officer involved in the meeting. The case is also before the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal, where the two officers are accused of gender-based discrimination.
The man who harassed Boldireff, Adamo Bono, pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal harassment in 2022. He received a conditional discharge to reside and receive treatment in a psychiatric care facility for two years.
Boldireff has said before that she didn’t pursue the cases against the officers only for herself. Rather, she did so in the hopes of helping others who find themselves in her situation.
“The changes I am trying to make aren’t just about me,” she said. “It’s about the person who is next in line behind me, the next person who reports to Station 20 that they’ve been stalked. How will they respond?”