It seems like a cliche-ridden scene from a police/crime drama.

A police officer beats a suspect, striking his head, kneeing him in the ribs and pinning him against the wall in the interrogation room.

The beating ends after two minutes or so and the “bad cop” leaves the room, to be replaced by a “good cop” who tells the suspect he better make sure he has “something to say or else they’re coming back”.

When the suspect refuses to confess the good cop leaves, to be replaced by the bad cop who continues his assault.

Again the bad cop leaves and is replaced by the good cop who says, “tell them something, tell them anything or else they’re going to come back.” Again the suspect refuses to confess and the bad cop re-enters the room to continue the beating.

The beating ends and the suspect is left alone to gather his thoughts.

Now the bad cop returns and turns into the good cop, apologizing and saying, “I am sorry for what I did to you. It’s part of my job.” That cop then gives the suspect a bottle of water, a chicken sandwich and a towel saying he wants the suspect to make a video statement.

You’d expect to see this in an old episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. I can picture NYPD Det. Elliot Stabler playing the bad cop and his partner, Det. Olivia Benson, playing the good cop.

The problem is the scenario I described above didn’t come from a cheesy television show.

It came from the actions of three Toronto cops, two detectives and a detective constable, who were investigating the theft of about $350,000 of copper piping.

During the robbery, an employee was tied up with zip ties and duct tape, and threatened with what was believed to be a gun.

What’s worse, as if it could get any worse, is that a second suspect in this case was also beaten by the police.

This time, a different cop did the beating.

At this point, a cynic might say beating up a suspect is hard work and one cop sometimes has to pinch-hit for another.

Also, a different cop played the good cop this time, telling the suspect if he didn’t make a statement he, the good cop, couldn’t protect him from the bad cop. And by the way, he advised, make sure to say you don’t want legal counsel.

Is this what they teach Toronto’s finest? Where did these three officers get their ideas on interrogation? By watching Denzel Washington’s performance in Training Day?

The two suspects in this case ultimately faced criminal charges. The Crown Attorney dropped the charges against one of the suspects, who had suffered the more serious injuries, including a cracked rib.

The other suspect was found guilty by a jury and sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison.

The trial judge would have imposed a sentence of 6 1/2 years, but reduced the sentence by one year to take into account the “police misconduct”.

Last December, however, the Ontario Court of Appeal said the sentence reduction wasn’t enough to protect the integrity of the justice system and issued a stay of the conviction, meaning the conviction and sentence were dissolved.

In commenting on the “calculated, prolonged and skillfully choreographed investigative technique” which involved “the deliberate and repeated use of intimidation, threats and violence, coupled with what can only be described as a systematic breach of the constitutional rights of detained persons” the ruling stated: “The courts must not condone such an approach to interrogation. Real life in the police services is not a television drama.”

With the beatings having taken place in mid-2009, you’d think the three officers would have been drummed out of the force by now, but there’s no record of any disciplinary action.

Police brutality is a common place event on TV and in movies. Am I naive to think this case displays an aberration, an isolated occurrence, in 21st century Canada?