Sim Frayne couldn’t believe her eyes when she first saw the piece of paper that falsely identified her as a “person of interest” in the sudden death of her own stepfather.

The words appeared on a Toronto police background check that she had requested in 2012 to present to the courts so she could retain custody of her two and half year old niece.

“It was the fear of possibly not being able to have her, which was terrifying,” said the Toronto woman. “I was mortified. I’m a volunteer. I do so many things.”

On Thursday, Frayne took her grievances to the Toronto Police Services Board to ask for a formal apology from Chief Bill Blair for the eight months, and hundreds of wasted hours, it took for her to clear her name.

She didn’t get it.

“I’m here today because the TPS made errors in handling the situation and I want them to take full responsibility for the effects of this error and the negative impact it has had on my life,” Frayne told board members through tears.

After a lengthy debate about whether to strike a three-person sub committee and investigate further, the board voted instead to receive her complaint and asked the chief to write Frayne a letter that clarified why the force felt the matter had been dealt with.

“A letter was sent to the deputant (Frayne) acknowledging the record should have been expunged and that its continued existence was ‘regretful,’” Blair told board members. “By the way, I acknowledge to you that it is regretful. But this is not misconduct.”

An ongoing Star investigation has found Canadians’ non-conviction records — including unproven allegations, withdrawn charges and mental health calls to 911 — are routinely released in police background checks and shared with U.S. border authorities.

After Frayne’s stepfather died suddenly, a police investigation with the coroner’s office ruled the cause of death as pneumococcal meningitis and diabetes.

But Frayne had no idea that police had ever thought otherwise, or that she had been under suspicion.

When she received the background check, she notified the Toronto Police Service records division that a mistake had been made and the force issued a second vulnerable-sector screening with the “person of interest” designation suppressed.

But a Toronto Police officer with the professional standards unit, to whom Frayne complained, told her the matter had been investigated for a total of eight hours and that nothing more could be done to remove the designation.

It was only after Frayne went to the Office of the Independent Police Review Director that her case was resolved and the designation was removed from her file. The OIRPD sent the case back to the Toronto Police Service, where another officer in professional standards investigated, and changed the “person of interest” designation to “witness.”

Frayne, an event planner and Seneca student who volunteers at her church and a seniors’ centre, wanted the apology from Blair and asked for the investigating officer with professional standards to be counselled.

“I’d like to see systemic change within the police service, particularly with initial complaints to professional standards, that they’re reviewed by more than one person. Because honestly,” said Frayne, breaking down, “it would have saved so much time and heartache if, at the very beginning, when I came forward, it was resolved.”

Blair told the board that part of the problem may have been that the officer who investigated the death thought Frayne’s status would be updated and removed when the death was no longer viewed as suspicious.

“The record was never publicly disclosed but continued to exist,” said Blair, when it “should have been expunged from our system. An error was made. There was no misconduct there.”

Many of the board members sympathized with Frayne.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

“I’m feeling, as a public servant, that this is one of the sad expressions of the system run amok, and I wish I had the authority to apologize to you because I can understand that this has been exceptionally difficult for you for quite some time,” said board member Marie Moliner.

On Wednesday, the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police issued new voluntary guidelines urging police forces to stop disclosing non-conviction information, which when revealed in background checks has had destructive effects on people seeking to get jobs, volunteer or even cross the U.S. border. It’s still unclear how many of the province’s 57 police forces will adopt the policy.

Premier Kathleen Wynne also expressed strong concerns about the release of unproven allegations this week, asking Community Safety Minister Yasir Naqvi to explore a response.

Read more about: