An internal TTC investigation concluded one of the agency’s fare inspectors used personal information he collected from a female passenger to contact her later and ask her on a date, behaviour that caused the woman to “fear for her safety.”

Another investigation found two transit enforcement officers falsified notes to conceal their whereabouts on a day when their patrol car suffered “significant body damage” that neither officer could explain.

A third probe determined a fare inspector “attempted to bully” a man who talked to him about a streetcar running late.

The officers were the four members of the TTC’s transit enforcement unit who the agency concluded engaged in misconduct last year.

All four of the officers were disciplined but remain employed at the transit agency, including the fare inspector who used a passenger’s private information to ask her out. He’s still patrolling streetcars, the TTC confirmed.

Agency spokesperson Stuart Green said he couldn’t say specifically what discipline each unit member received.

Green cited privacy reasons. But he said three officers were suspended for periods ranging from one to six months, and one received a written warning. Green said some of the suspensions were paid, and some were not.

“The discipline was determined in accordance with the relevant collective bargaining agreement and the grievance process,” Green said in an email.

“The TTC strives to make disciplinary decisions, in conjunction with advice from (human resources) and legal counsel, that are sustainable if challenged by the union before an arbitrator.”

Members of the enforcement unit are represented by CUPE Local 5089. Asked whether the discipline received by the officers was appropriate, a spokesperson for the union referred the Star to the TTC.

Ben Spurr on writing about four members of the TTC’s transit enforcement unit whom the agency concluded had engaged in misconduct in 2017

Details of internal investigations into misconduct by members of the TTC enforcement unit had not been previously been made public, but were released by the transit agency to the Star this week.

The agency agreed to release redacted summaries of “substantiated” misconduct investigations after rejecting the Star’s freedom of information request for copies of the full reports.

The TTC said the full reports were related to labour relations proceedings and were therefore exempt from freedom of information requests. But Green said the transit agency “elected to provide as much additional information as we could.”

The TTC’s transit enforcement unit is made up of two types of employees: transit enforcement officers and fare inspectors. Both exercise considerable authority over the transit-riding public.

Enforcement officers are designated special constables by the Toronto Police Services Board. They have powers similar to regular police to enforce laws on TTC property.

Fare inspectors patrol streetcar lines and enforce the TTC’s proof of payment rules. They have the power to issue provincial offences tickets, but aren’t special constables.

Last year the TTC had about 50 enforcement officers, and 69 fare inspectors.

According the TTC’s first ever annual report on misconduct allegations, which went to the agency’s board last month, there were a total of 27 complaints or concerns lodged against enforcement officers last year, and 109 complaints or concerns against fare inspectors.

Most were either withdrawn by the complainant or resolved informally, but the TTC’s complaints co-ordinator ultimately determined four of the allegations were substantiated.

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The agency determines a claim is substantiated if its internal investigator has “reasonable grounds to believe that misconduct occurred.”

The summaries of the substantiated investigations released to the Star were redacted to remove details, including the officers’ names.

They show that on Jan. 19, 2017 a woman was investigated by a fare inspector for failing to provide proof of payment on a streetcar.

“During the investigation the female provided her contact particulars as requested,” according to the summary.

“At a later date the (inspector) ... contacted her for social reasons using the information he had garnered in his investigation. Specifically he used his phone to text message the female and asked her to accompany him on a social outing.

“The (inspector’s) actions caused the female to fear for her safety.”

The TTC launched an investigation after the woman complained.

Another investigation initiated independently by the head of the transit enforcement unit concluded two enforcement officers went to one of the pair’s homes on July 22, 2017 while still on the clock.

“They did not enter their trip to the residence in their notebooks and/or entered a misleading entry” implying they were attending a work call when in fact they were at the officer’s house, the summary said.

“They were operating a (TTC enforcement unit) patrol car this same day which incurred significant body damage that neither officer could account for.”

Green said that the damage to the patrol car “was minor and deemed to have occurred near St. George Station while on patrol.”

In a separate investigation, the TTC determined one of the officers involved in the July 22 incident engaged in misconduct on another occasion less than three weeks later, when he posted a video online that “had been provided to him by his sergeant for evidentiary purposes.” The video included footage of an arrest he and his partner had made.

In the fourth substantiated complaint, the TTC determined that on June 3, 2017 a member of the public “became involved in a discussion” with a fare inspector about whether a streetcar was running late.

The inspector “then stood in the complainant’s personal space and attempted to bully him,” and “cursed directly at the complainant.”