A Carleton criminology professor has been named one of the top 25 people in the capital by Ottawa Life Magazine as a part of their annual list.
Professor Darryl Davies, who caused controversy in 2011 when he invited a witness to one of his lectures to share her testimony against two Ottawa police officers accused of assaulting a homeless man, came in at number 7 on the list.
“I am obviously very pleased both personally and professionally to be receiving this recognition from Ottawa Life Magazine,” he said.
After the controversial lecture, Matt Skof, president of the Ottawa Police Union, announced he was ending the organization’s relationship with Carleton when the university refused to take action against Davies.
In an email at the time, Skof named the CKCU radio station and the School of Journalism and Communication among the bodies the union would no longer work with.
Dan Donovan, Ottawa Life Magazine publisher and managing editor, said he was struck by Davies’ principles and refusal to apologize to the police union following the lecture as well as his other research, writing, and lecturing on the importance of police accountability
“The students in his class benefit from that as well,” Donovan said.
Ottawa Life Magazine publishes a “Top 25 People in the Capital” annually, acknowledging the “movers and shakers in the nation’s capital,” according to their list published in 2012. University president Roseann Runte made the list as number 5 in 2012.
Donovan called Skof’s decision to end the Ottawa Police Union’s relationship with the university “a stunning, stunning example of someone who is exceptionally ignorant threatening a university.”
“We thought it was very important to highlight professor Davies’ courage,” Donovan said.
In April, Skof told Maclean’s magazine that Davies’ actions were unprofessional because the witness, Tasha Doucette, presented only one side of the story, and may have affected court proceedings.
Doucette’s testimony was later deemed unreliable by a judge and the police officers were acquitted.
As a result of Skof’s actions, the Ontario Civil Liberties Association filed a complaint against him with the Office of the Independent Police Review Director, according to Davies.
The ended relationship between Carleton and the Ottawa Police Union affects the wider Ottawa community, according to Donovan, because “people in Ottawa were extremely offended by it.”
“You’re not only out of line and acting like a bully. You happen to be doing it in the capital of the country,” Donovan said.
Skof is the Ottawa Police Union’s only liaison with the media. He was unavailable for comment.
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