City cops have fixed friends’ tickets for years: retired officer

Cancelling traffic tickets issued to officers’ friends and associates has been a pervasive practice throughout the Winnipeg Police Service for years, a retired officer says.

“There were bottles (of liquor) coming through (the traffic services division) all the time. It’s been common since the beginning of time… It’s all about who you know and what your history is,” said the recently retired cop, speaking to the Free Press on the condition of anonymity. Liquor was gifted as thanks for cancelled tickets.

The retiree made the comments in the wake of an officer’s admission of guilt in relation to a decade’s worth of corruption charges last week. Const. Elston Bostock, 48, pleaded guilty Friday to a slew of charges, including breach of trust and obstruction of justice, for incidents dating back to 2016. He’s also expected to plead guilty to drug-trafficking charges later this month.

Bostock admitted to having other officers toss out traffic tickets that had been given to friends or associates in exchange for liquor or gift cards on several occasions. On other occasions, his attempts were rebuffed by colleagues.

Three other officers stand accused of committing offences while partnered with Bostock, who was an officer for more than 22 years. He’s currently on an unpaid suspension while the court deals with his case.

While Bostock “was a f—-up from the beginning” and should have been drummed out of the force long ago, he is being used as a “scapegoat” for the police service, which has long looked the other way as members, from all ranks, engaged in ticket fixing, said the retired cop.

“Nobody’s integrity is spotless.”

Bostock “is the sacrificial lamb,” the retired officer said. “Who’s going to take the chance now?”

The retired officer added they knew traffic unit officers at the time who were “so fed up with other officers calling to have tickets pulled.”

Zane Tessler, the retired director of the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba and a former Crown prosecutor, called the ticket fixing “ridiculous” and a “little scary.”

“Officers were basically selling their services for a $20 coffee card, to make traffic tickets disappear,” said Tessler.

“Nobody’s integrity is spotless.”

“You have to take a step back and wonder, ‘Do you actually have to teach people to know what should just be obvious and common-sense behaviour, that’s expected of a police officer?’”

On one hand, Tessler said, he hoped Bostock’s actions were an aberration in a “supervision-less situation.”

“But on the other hand, some of the facts and circumstances indicate that this wasn’t just the single officer’s involvement, but involved many others, who seemed to have a very limited or skewed view of… right and wrong conduct… and acted in such a way that they were in a violation of their duty to the citizens to which they serve,” said Tessler.

He said it was fortunate officers came forward to report Bostock’s behaviour — though it “took longer than you would have hoped for” — and as a result, police put an end to it.

“It is that tight-knit culture that exists — the protection of each other’s lives is paramount, but it can sometimes get skewed, that you’re… turning a blind eye to conduct that would otherwise not be acceptable, in the sense that you keep quiet and don’t make a big deal out of it,” said the former police watchdog head.

“You can see how it can mushroom, because once someone gets away with the little things, they can easily snowball into the bigger things.”

He said it’s incumbent on police management to put better controls in place to prevent corruption and root it out when it does happen.

“I would hope things like this… once they become public, would be an impetus for other officers to do the right thing, to do what would be expected of them in their role in the community,” said Tessler.

He said he supports the use of body cameras by officers and independent investigatory bodies such as the IIU, as well as other measures to make police work more transparent.

“The more transparent police interactions are with the public, the less likely someone’s going to go out of their way to commit acts like this officer did,” said Tessler.

“Officers were basically selling their services for a $20 coffee card, to make traffic tickets disappear.”

Police Chief Gene Bowers has called Bostock’s actions “deeply concerning.”

“Our members are aware that we have to earn the public’s trust and confidence,” Bowers said in a statement last week. “The majority of our members work hard to keep our community safe with integrity, respect and dignity.”

After Bostock’s second arrest in August, Bowers said he spoke with senior police brass and directed them to meet with their officers to discuss integrity and accountability.

He also said he would beef up the professional standards unit and enhance training for supervisors.

The chief has said he wants legislation changed to allow law enforcement to publish disciplinary records.

“The majority of our members work hard to keep our community safe with integrity, respect and dignity.”

Bostock’s list of crimes is much longer than just ticket fixing.

He repeatedly looked up licence plate numbers in police databases to pass on personal and confidential information to drug dealers and other named “associates,” and he admitted to offering an indignity to human remains because he shared a photo he had taken of a partially naked drug-overdose victim.

He also stole cannabis during an “integrity test” set up by the professional standards officers who were investigating his crimes.

Bostock pleaded guilty to five counts of breach of trust and one count each of attempting to obstruct justice, obstructing a police officer, theft under $5,000 and disseminating confidential information.

He is set to be sentenced on all charges Jan. 13.

He was first arrested in November 2024, along with two other officers, but was put back in cuffs in August along with a fourth officer.

On Wednesday, police and the union for its officers, the Winnipeg Police Association, didn’t reply to requests for comment.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca